When The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game
by EL0NI
Summary: There are two types of people in the world: hunters and prey. But what happens when those who are hunted decide to go after the hunters? The pursuit begins… and soon the role of hunter and hunted blurs. AU, Grimmjow/Neliel
1. Chapter 1

**T****itle:** When The Hunter Gets Captured By The Game

**Author:** Eloni

**Series:** Bleach

**Pairing:** Grimmjow/Neliel

**Summary:** There are two types of people in the world: hunters and prey. But what happens when those who are hunted decide to go after the hunters? The pursuit begins… and soon the role of hunter and hunted blurs. AU, Grimmjow/Neliel

**Disclaimer:** If I owned Bleach we wouldn't suffer from Grimmjow and Nel withdrawal. Title stolen from the Massive Attack song "The Hunter Gets Captured by the Game"

Major thanks to **EmperorBassExe **and** codegal** for betaing the fic for me.

* * *

Halibel pulled her jacket around herself tighter as a chill ran down her spine. She rubbed her upper arm with her hand, hoping the friction would warm up her prickling skin.

"When?" she asked curtly, looking over her shoulder at the other hunter who was crouching over a lifeless figure.

The cold night wind started blowing again, gently swaying the leafless trees and bushes what were scattered among the old, historic houses. The small town was asleep save from the hunters and their preys, the vampires themselves. The dark streets of the town centre were illuminated by old-fashioned candelabrums what were shedding light on the place where the two hunters were currently standing.

"I'd say an hour ago."

There was a rattling sound from one of the dark alleys and Halibel's hand instinctively moved to her hip, her fingertips lightly tapping on her gun. She let out a relieved sigh as a frightened cat ran into view and, just as quickly as it appeared, vanished into the darkness.

"Do we know the culprit?" she asked, adjusting the white, silky scarf around her neck and chin.

Green eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"I doubt it." Came the reply a moment later. "This one seems to be rather violent." The green haired hunter leant a little closer to the corpse, examining the gaping wound on its throat.

The victim was a young man with dark hair and pale skin. His slender body was visibly rigid and his wide, honey brown eyes were staring into the dark sky, preserving his last, horror-stricken expression.

"Whoever did this is way more violent and out of control than any of the ones we know of. It basically tore a chunk out of the victim's neck. I haven't seen vampire acting this way before."

Halibel nodded, mostly to herself. It certainly was a relief.

Neliel stood up and pulled off her rubber gloves, throwing them in a nearby thrash bin.

"I think we should split up and search for it till it's still dazed from the feed. It'd be easier and safer to kill it before it regains its senses." She said as she reached into the pocket of her coat and took out a pair of black leather gloves.

"Shall we leave the body here?" Halibel asked as she started toward her motorbike.

"We don't have time to do anything with it." The other hunter answered. "The police will probably take care of it when they discover it. I doubt they'd find out what caused the victim's death and even if they did they wouldn't believe it."

It never ceased to amaze her how ignorant humans could be. The race of vampires were as old as mankind, many nation had countless myths and legends about them, some people were even lucky enough to see one without being killed by them yet they still brushed off their existence as a fairytale. She didn't have any idea how they explained away those mysterious disappearances and murders what were committed by vampires.

She discarded the train of thought, knowing it was useless trying to figure out mysteries like that. She pulled on her gloves and straddled her own motorbike. "I'll go search for it in the Northern part of the town." She stated and started the motor.

"I'll check the Southern region then and ask Stark to keep an eye on some potential victims." Halibel pulled out her mobile phone from the inner pocket of her jacket and dialled the number. "Hopefully he won't fall asleep on his shift." She added, half joking.

A small chuckle left Neliel's lips, the first one that night.

"Hopefully." She agreed before putting on her helmet. "Take care." She said and the motor roared up in the silent night as she took off.

"You too, Nel." The other woman said on a low voice as she lost sight of her friend.

* * *

Neliel muttered a light curse as she turned another corner. No one was on the streets of the small town at this time of the night but it was still hard to locate the vampire. She had been searching for it for about an hour now without avail. If she didn't hurry up its daze would fade and the search would be even more hopeless.

She slowed her motorbike down, stopping at the edge of the road. She closed her eyes and extended her senses, looking for that typical suffocating feeling what the vampire aura emitted. She could feel the dozens of humans peacefully sleeping in their houses but not a single trace of vampire aura.

Unless…

She concentrated on the faint feeling on the periphery of her senses. From this distance it almost felt like an aura of a particularly evil human. There was no stifling feeling to it but it was dark and repelling, a property what most vampire aura had to them. Even if it turned out that it wasn't the vampire she was after, it was still better than nothing. She couldn't tell if it was moving away or toward her so she quickly started her bike again and set out to catch up with the creature. She followed that trace like a real hunter would follow the trail of the game. The closer she got to it the darker the aura turned and soon enough she felt a lump forming in her throat, stifling her.

'Got you.' She thought and suppressed a little smirk. It was better not to sell the skin before you'd killed the bear. And judging from the energy the aura emitted this one was a really big bear.

She planned on approaching it only if it was absolutely necessary. She loathed shooting them from far away without them having a chance to fight back but if this one was really as savage as they thought it was, she couldn't afford the risk of being killed and letting it continue its rampage.

She was rapidly nearing the source of the aura, which, she could feel now, was motionless, so she slowed the motorbike down and stopped a few blocks away from the vampire. She quickly got off the bike and unzipped her jacket to have access to the quick-draw holster and more importantly the gun in it.

As she started walking toward the source of the dark aura the lump in her throat got even more stifling, but not only from the proximity of the dark creature. No matter how many times she was out on hunting her body still couldn't get used to the stress and adrenaline. Her façade might have been calm but her heartbeat quickened with every step she took.

She reached a brightly lighted, cobbled square with a small fountain in the middle of it, framed by short bushes, a few benches and candelabrums.

A lone figure was sitting on one of the benches, arms resting slackly on the back of the bench, legs spread in a laid-back fashion. As Neliel neared them more and more details came into view. The figure was obviously a man with a lean yet muscular body and short, teal coloured hair. He was wearing plain black trousers and a white shirt what's sleeves were rolled up to his elbows.

If Neliel was to act according to her plan she should have pulled her gun out and shot the vampire on the spot before he could notice her. She wasn't sure what stopped her from doing so but she was positive that something was off.

She extended her senses again to make sure the man sitting there was really a vampire. She felt even more confused after examining his aura.

He was as much of a vampire as you can get, but something was wrong with the scene in front of her. If he was the vampire who killed that unfortunate man in the centre of the city he wouldn't have been sitting around in some park, let alone act so calm. Vampires fell into a short period of daze after they fed and given the fact that only two hours passed since the victim's death there was no way the committer would act in such carefree ways. Not to mention a vampire sitting around leisurely in the middle of a park was an odd sight in itself.

"Does it take you this damn long to make up your mind about every single vampire you're after, hunter?"

Neliel gave a start as the harsh voice rang in the air, pulling her out of her musings. She grabbed her gun and aimed at the man lightning-fast, ready to shoot him but stopped abruptly as the vampire lifted his hands in front of himself, chuckling lowly.

"Hey, chill out woman, I don't wanna attack you or anything."

Neliel gave him a sharp look, not lowering her gun the slightest.

"Don't think I'll believe that." She said sternly, stepping into the light of one of the candelabrums.

As soon as a vampire found out about a hunter's presence in their proximity they either tried to run away from them or attacked them, depending on their condition, power and state of mind. There was no way any of them would try to ask for truce.

She stopped a few metres away from the vampire, making it clear that she was aiming at his heart. It slightly irked her that the man didn't show any sigh of fear.

"I fed only a day or two ago so I don't plan on sucking your blood out just yet, hunter." He said with a wide grin, placing his hands to the back of his head in a breezy manner, stressing the words 'just yet'. No matter how laid-back he was, the hunter could see that predatory gleam in his eyes what told her that he would attack anytime soon.

"Should I feel honoured?" Neliel retorted, lowering her gun only a little. She noted the metallic gleam of a necklace pocking out from under the collar of the vampire's shirt but quickly forgot about it as the vampire suddenly stood up. She lifted her gun again, stepping further away from the man.

"Are you always this jumpy around vampires?" he asked disapprovingly as he reached into his pocket and took out a packet of cigarettes and an elegant metal lighter. He took a cigarette between his lips and lit it casually, seemingly ignoring the fact that a gun was aimed at him.

"Only around those that bite." Neliel replied sarcastically, lifting an eyebrow in challenge. It earned her a small smirk and an interested glint in the vampire's electric blue eyes.

"Your name?" he asked, lifting the cigarette to his lips and taking a long drag, all the while intently watching the woman in front of him.

"I don't think it concerns you." Neliel replied coldly, alertness suppressing that little part of her what challenged the vampire a moment ago. Playing with fire was not like her and she intended on keeping it that way. Suddenly an idea flashed into her mind and she lowered her gun a little bit to look less intimidating… not that the vampire showed any sign of being intimidated by her or by the gun but that was beside the point. "But I'll tell you my name if you answer a question."

The man lifted his eyebrows in slight surprise but shrugged a moment later, "Seems fair to me." before taking another drag from the cigarette.

"Were you the one who killed that man in the centre of the town two hours ago?"

As soon as the words left her mouth the other laughed out loud. She was a bit surprised to say at least; she didn't think she had said anything funny.

"What are you, a rookie hunter?" he scoffed and she couldn't help but feel a bit offended. "Both of us know that I would act differently if I'd just fed. Not to mention I already told you I was still full from two days ago. I'm not that gluttonous."

"Then why are you still in the humans' town? Lazing around in a park is not typical vampire behaviour either. It makes you seem suspicious."

"I'm just enjoying the fresh air." The vampire answered with a cheeky grin, turning his face toward the sky and exhaling a large cloud of cigarette smoke. Neliel scowled at him warningly what made the vampire grin even wider, showing off his pointed fangs. "Now, how about you tell me your name?"

"Why do you want to know it so badly?" She asked distrustfully, lifting the gun at the vampire yet again. The man scowled, stepping closer, not paying attention to the pistol at all.

"I told you what you wanted to know, it's only fair that you tell me your name." he said with a hint of impatience in his voice. He took another drag from the cigarette before carelessly throwing it away somewhere among the bushes.

The hunter's eyes narrowed as she noticed his gaze was following the dog-end's way through the air toward the shrubs.

"It can't be helped then. Neliel Tu Oderschvank, at your service. It was nice to meet you, vampire."

A loud bang echoed through the empty streets, outbellowing the shocked gasp of the man. Neliel watched as he glanced down at his chest, confusion and shock sweeping over his features as he beheld the small gunshot wound in the middle of his ribcage. His legs buckled under him and he unceremoniously fell onto the ground with a thud.

She lowered her gun, carefully stepping closer to the motionless body. Those electric blue eyes were lifelessly staring up into the starless sky. His thick, tar-like blood was slowly pooling under and around him, soaking his white shirt and painting it a dark crimson colour.

The hunter exhaled slowly and put her gun away.

One down, who knows how many to go.

* * *

TO BE CONTINUED


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning!" The cheerful voice sounded from the spare bedroom before Neliel appeared in the doorway, stretching like a sated kitten, only wearing mauve shorts and a white tank top.

"Good morning to you, too. Did you sleep well?" Halibel asked as she sipped her morning coffee. She had no problem with uncovering her face in front of Neliel. They had been friends for long enough to know each other's secrets and not to mind their friend knowing about said secrets.

"Yes, I did. In fact, the bed was so comfortable I might want to steal it some time in the near future. So be prepared." She flashed the other a carefree smile and walked closer, plopping down next to her at the kitchen table. Halibel smiled back and folded the newspaper what she had been reading and set it down on the surface of the table.

It was still early but they were used to getting up early even after a long night shift. The autumn wind was swaying the trees outside, some of their naked branches rattling against the windows of the first floor room. However, they were intercepted by heavy beige curtains what hung in front of the huge windows of the house, obscuring the view to the big, neglected garden.

"Thank you for putting me up for the night anyway." Nel continued. "It would have been tiresome to ride all the way home after such a hectic night."

"What are friends for?" asked Halibel with mirth shining in her eyes. She got up and walked to the counter, taking a small basket of fresh brioche from it and placing it on the table. "Coffee, tea or orange juice?"

"Orange juice." Neliel answered after a moment of hesitation. "Can I help you with something?"

"No, it's fine. You're the guest after all." The other woman smiled back at her as she took out the jug of orange juice from the fridge. "Besides, you do the same when I'm staying at your place." She looked for a glass and after finding one she poured some juice in it, placing it and the jug in front of Nel and sitting down again.

"Thank you." The green haired woman mumbled, taking a bite from the brioche.

"You were quite tight-lipped about the vampire you shot last night." Halibel said conversationally while spreading her own brioche with butter. "What was your impression about it? Do you think it was the one that bit that man?"

Neliel was close to roll her eyes but she resisted the urge. She understood why Halibel was such a workaholic, but couldn't they at least enjoy their mornings without having to talk about vampires and spilling blood? She nibbled on her brioche, thinking about how to put her thoughts into words before she spoke up.

"I'm sure he wasn't the one who killed that man, but there was something strange about him. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the way he acted wasn't normal vampire behaviour." She nibbled on her brioche again for a few moments. "He seemed to be in control… like he wasn't the slave of his own cravings like most vampires." She lifted her glass to her lips and sipped from the juice. "It was strange."

Halibel listened to Nel's words intently, her breakfast forgotten. Her brows furrowed in thought as she leant back in her chair.

"Do you think he was a pure-blood?" she asked, watching the other's reaction.

Pure-blood vampires were the ones most human authors wrote their romanticized stories about. They were the classic, elegant, refined killers who lived in big gothic castles either alone or in clans, not interfering with human politics or their non-reasoning 'relatives', often called as lowly vampires. Based on their behaviour most people would have thought they were human nobles. They often held an interest toward art and most of them appeared to be cultured and erudite. Pure-bloods could even show affection toward certain members of their family, usually toward their offspring or in some cases their own servants.

Aside from the fact that they killed humans just so they can feed one could say pure-blood vampires were pretty sound people, considering.

Neliel looked up at the other woman, seeming quite shocked.

"That thought didn't even cross my mind at the time but now that you mention it… he certainly behaved more like a pure-blood than an average vampire." Her eyes stared into space but it was clear her mind was replaying yesterday's events and was frantically searching for answers. She blinked after about half a minute, her gaze locking with Halibel's. "But why would another pure-blood appear here? Aren't they supposed to be extremely rare? Is there something in this area what draws them here?"

Halibel shook her head. "There is nothing around here what would draw in a pure-blood. He must have had a personal reason to come here." She tapped her chin lightly, deep in thought. "Did you ask his name by any chance?"

Neliel lowered her eyes, feeling a bit ashamed. They usually didn't ask a vampire's name before they killed it but if they met with anything out of ordinary hunters were directed to gain as much information as possible. She clearly failed to follow those directions.

"No, I didn't." she answered on a low voice. "But I recall his appearance pretty clearly. Can't you go by that?"

Halibel sighed and shook her head.

"If we lived about three hundred years ago I could probably find out his identity by simply looking at him but seeing that most pure-blood families have been extirpated I'm afraid we can't trust in identifying a pure-blood based on typical characteristics and physical features."

"I see." Nel answered, scolding herself inwardly for acting so rashly yesterday. Then out of the blue another question arose in her. "Do you think someone will miss him?"

Halibel gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"If he had a personal reason to come here then that might mean he was here on business."

Halibel's eyes widened in realisation. "Do you think he came here to have conversations with one of Aizen's agents?"

Neliel nodded; the thought seemed even more likely when spoken aloud.

Aizen Sousuke was one of the few still existing pure-bloods. He was a descendant of one of the most respected and most ancient pure-blood families. His clan had been slain two hundred years ago during the so called 'Purification', making him the only heritor of the incredible fortune. Some people, mostly the hunters, thought he was the one who betrayed his own family to get his hands on the wealth; others, mostly his loyal servants and the lowly vampires said the Aizen-clan was just another victim of the mindless slaughter the hunters had staged among the vampires at the time.

Now he was one of the most infamous vampires, acting like a mysterious warlord, raising a vampire army with the help of his agents, but never showing up among the humans. No one knew what his true intensions were either.

"It would fit into the picture." Neliel continued. "I mean when do you see vampires doing nothing in the middle of a park? I think he might have been waiting for someone; someone who might have been an agent. And seeing that he might have wanted to join Aizen's army it's reasonable to think he didn't want to let me, a hunter, into his secret."

Halibel nodded, finding that train of thought worthy enough to spend time on investigating it. She stood up, leaving her breakfast on the table almost completely untouched and strode into one of the many rooms of her large flat. Neliel heard some shuffling and rustling sounds and about two minutes later Halibel emerged from her personal library, holding a massive, old-looking volume and some modern folders in her arms.

"I think I'll need your help with these, Nel. I hope you didn't have plans for today."

The green haired woman smiled up at her, making room for the documents on the table.

"I was hoping on staying here to enjoy your company, my friend."

* * *

Annoying as hell. That was his first thought after the fog cleared up in his mind and he could finally hear the noises of the outside world. He didn't have a clue what made those fluttering sounds but he wanted to tear it into tiny little shreds and then stomp on it for good measure.

He wearily opened his eyes, thanking whatever god was listening that the room or hall or cave or whatever he was currently staying in was dim lighted.

He attempted to sit up but immediately regretted it as stabbing pain shot up his spine, effectively killing his desire to move.

"F-fuck." He breathed as his head plopped down on the pillow beneath him. He furrowed his brows in pain and confusion, not quite understanding how he ended up in a bed. The last thing he remembered was that hunter and her still smoking gun, her face emotionless but her gaze piercing. "That little…"

"So you're awake." Somebody cut him off and his eyes widened in disbelief as he recognised that monotonous voice. "Would you tell me who you pissed off this time? Just to know who I'm getting into trouble with for saving you."

The voice was coming from above him so he turned his head toward the ceiling, nictitating to make out the figure in the dark.

"Ulquiorra?" he asked uncertainly, not really believing his own eyes. The shorter male was crouching on a rafter just above him, his yellowish eyes gleaming in the dark. Grimmjow just noticed they were in a desolate loft, thin rays of dim light creeping through the little gaps between the roof tiles, illuminating the dust hovering in the air.

"I'm surprised you can remember me at all." The other man replied. "Did I make such a big impression on you the last time we met?"

The vampire scowled and turned his head away, trying to shut out the other's presence. He did not like the thought of being under the same roof with him, especially in the condition he was in. He felt weak and powerless and the dull pain engulfing his whole body made him wish he didn't wake up at all, at least till his wound healed.

"Why did you save me?" he asked reluctantly, damning the fact that he got himself into such a state that he had to be saved.

There was a rush of fluttering sounds again as Ulquiorra jumped down from the rafter, landing effortlessly on the hard ground next to the small bed. His little leap churned up a large cloud of dust and Grimmjow had to stiffen a fit of violent coughing. Ulquiorra sat down on a hunch near the wall, his back stiff and his luminescent gaze fixed on the man occupying the bed.

"I have no logical explanation." He answered plainly. "It was based on an urge, just like a lot of my actions seem to be since we first met. As much as I hate to admit it I cannot control it."

'Pathetic.' Grimmjow thought and turned to his side, clenching his teeth in pain.

"You haven't told me who did this to you."

The teal haired man looked up at the other, murderous intent clear in his eyes.

"A vampire hunter." He grunted after a minute, turning his gaze away in shame. A simple hunter handing his pure-blood ass to him… he would have found it hilarious if it didn't happen to him. Man, what a disgrace.

Ulquiorra cocked an eyebrow what went unnoticed by the man lying on the bed.

"It must have been a really good hunter then… or were you just careless like you usually are?"

Grimmjow turned his head away, refusing to answer. He was not going to humiliate himself even more in front of him by admitting that yes, he had been acting way too breezy around the hunter for his own good. He didn't take her seriously and couldn't even imagine her being able to harm him, probably that's why she could catch him off guard. Underestimating her was clearly a big mistake.

Seeing that the pure-blood wasn't planning to answer the black haired man turned his glance down at the other hunch next to him, brows furrowing just a tad for a moment. There was a quiet clink as long black claws closed around a small metal object. Ulquiorra lifted it close to his face, examining it for a minute before he tossed it toward the bed. Grimmjow blinked in confusion as the little ball-like thing collided with his bare chest. He looked down on the bed where it had fallen and after spotting it among the bed sheets he picked it up and placed it on his open palm.

"It took me almost one hour to take this out of you without causing too much damage in your body." Ulquiorra deadpanned, motioning with his eyes toward the slightly deformed silver bullet in the vampire's hand. "Good thing you pure-bloods regenerate quickly, otherwise I doubt you would have survived the rather unprofessional operation."

Grimmjow's gaze shot up at the other in shock and rage. He wanted to pounce on the other man and strangle the living hell out of him. True, he had saved his life by removing the silver object from inside his body where it would have burnt the flesh and caused even more serious injuries but he had nearly killed him in the process. Just what kind of an idiot was Ulquiorra anyway?

"I won't thank you." He growled instead, turning onto his back again, suddenly feeling extremely drained and sleepy.

"I didn't expect you would." Came the smooth reply, not sounding offended at all. "I advise you to rest now. I think you'll heal in a span of two days at max if you don't strain yourself. I'll come back to check on you before the sun rises."

Grimmjow only grunted as a reply, not liking the way Ulquiorra played the anxious mother around him. He heard the creaking sound of a window opening, the dim light of dusk pouring into the loft for a moment before the smaller man stepped out to the roof of the old, disused tenement. The vampire's eyes closed tiredly at the same time as black demon wings grew out of the dark haired man's scapulas. As he slowly sank into unconsciousness he missed the sound of a few silent flaps of wings as Ulquiorra took flight above the outskirts of the town, invisible to the mortal eye.

* * *

"Jeagerjaques, isn't it?" she muttered, her eyes serious as she studied the file in front of her.

They had spent the day with reading through countless pages about Aizen's agents who resided in the area and had enough connections and power to have an effect on a pure-blood.

They had narrowed them down to three individuals and looked up all of their connections what equalled in huge piles of folders to go through again. After about four hours of reading spent in complete silence Neliel's quiet 'I think I've found him' utterance had caused Halibel to jump in her seat in alarm. Nel had smiled at her apologetically and handed the file to her friend.

Halibel memorized the name before laying the papers down on the table and reaching for the massive volume she had brought with her from the library in the morning. It contained the register and family tree of all pure-blood clans ever in existence and she intended on getting to know Mister Jeagerjaques' background in depth.

"His data sheet is quite useless." Neliel said on a mildly annoyed tone. "Most of his data, such as his whereabouts, connections and the scale of his dangerousness are unknown. The description fits, though."

Halibel nodded absentmindedly, her finger following the branches of the Jeagerjaques family tree, stopping once she found the name 'Grimmjow Jeagerjaques'.

"It seems like he was pretty young vampire standard." She said, studying the minimal amount of data under his name. "He was born in 1836 during the massacre staged among the vampire families." She frowned at the little crosses next to all of the family members' names. "None of his relatives are alive."

"It must be lonely to be a pure-blood nowadays." Neliel interjected, not looking up from the files in front of her.

Halibel glanced at her and smiled.

"Not if you have great friends." She said, earning a smile from the other in return.

The blonde woman sighed and got up from the table, strolling to the counter and started rummaging through the cupboards.

"Would you like some tea?" she asked and moved to pour water into the teapot.

"Yes, thank you." Nel replied and started to arrange the scattered papers. "What do you think, is Aizen planning on drafting some of his soldiers into the area?"

There were some clinking noises before Halibel replied.

"It's possible. We hadn't seen Jeagerjaques in this region before so if Aizen's agent organized the meeting here I think it's likely that they wanted him to reside here and fight against the hunters."

"Good thing I killed him then. I don't think most hunters I know would stand a chance against a pure-blood."

"Me neither. Aside from you, me and Stark I can't recall anybody around here who could kill one. That recluse Luisenbarn is said to be one of the few veteran hunters who is able to kill one, but he is like an old, grumpy bear hunter. I doubt he'd come to the town to help us even if we asked him nicely."

"Don't forget about Ichigo." The green haired woman interjected. "He might not be a member of our organization but he is on the same level as us."

Halibel shook her head sceptically. She returned to the desk and placed two steaming cups on it. Neliel thanked her and lifted hers to her lips, blowing on it and taking a sip from the hot liquid.

"I know he is strong but he only goes after vampires if he sees them attacking somebody. He is not a real hunter, therefore we couldn't count on him in a war."

"I guess you are right." The green haired hunter sighed. "Anyway, do you happen to have any kind of data about Aizen's moves in the past few years? I wonder where his agents appeared in this county. The pace he extends his influence is a bit worrisome."

"Unfortunately I have no copies of those folders. You should check the organization's archives."

"I will, but certainly not today." Neliel said, stiffening a yawn. "It's getting late and since I have tonight off I want to spend it at home in peace."

"Good for you." Halibel replied with a tired smile. "I'm out on hunting with Stark tonight so I better take a nap before the sun goes down."

"I don't want to hinder you any longer then." The green haired woman stood up and pushed the chair back to its place. "Just give me a minute to dress and to pack my belongings and I'll be out the door."

"You made it sound like you're a burden." Halibel chuckled what earned her a light shrug and an open smile in return.

* * *

The chilly wind blew her hair out of her face, the hum of the motorbike drowning out all other sounds. She was the only one riding on the unpaved road just outside the town so she slowed down a little to enjoy the view. The wide trail was lined with old oaks what's yellow and brown leaves were scattering around in the autumn wind. The setting sun's last rays were painting the bare meadows golden, giving them a warm yet still cold feeling. The air smelled like fresh hay but the dark clouds gathering on the eastern horizon were bringing the smell of cleaning rain with them.

Neliel inhaled deeply, feeling her lungs nearly burst. It really was refreshing after all those long night shifts spent with hunting after and killing vampires.

She turned to a smaller path and after about half a minute her house finally came into view. The medium-sized, plain country-house was surrounded by slender robinias what had already lost their leaves. There weren't many sighs of life around it, only some potted plants here and there, waiting to be taken inside the house before the first frost, and a lonely bird feeder on one of the trees near a big, encurtained window.

As forlorn as it seemed at first glance Neliel felt almost giddy to be at home again. She parked her motorbike down next to the wall and grabbed her valise. As she hurried up the short flight of stairs to the front door with a small, unconscious smile on her lips she missed the dark shadow flitting above her garden, bringing the smell of rotten flesh with it.

* * *

TBC

A/N: I assume no one thought I was gonna kill Grimmy off, am I right? I wrote that little glimpse of him just to confirm that he is alive and kicking.

Hope the chapter wasn't too boring despite the obvious lack of action in it. I try to write some kinda plot into the story and some basic things had to be explained (the curse and charm of AU). The true GrimmNel will come in a few chapters… erm, until then, eh… have some NelHali! What, it's a guilty pleasure of mine and yuri is cute so… OK, I'll shut up now.

Anyway, the fic takes place somewhere in Europe (since I'm only familiar with this continent) but I won't name any specific country or town.


	3. Chapter 3

He awoke to the rattling of windowpanes. He frowned and let out an annoyed grunt, turning toward the wall and doing an admirable job of ignoring the other presence in the loft. He started to fall into a slumber again but his eyes widened in alarm as he felt the creature looming over him. A surprisingly strong hand grabbed his shoulder and tried to force him onto his back. He swung his arm instinctively toward the other but to his utter shock a clawed hand clasped around his wrist and effortlessly stopped the strike.

"How did you…?" he stammered before he could stop himself. Ulquiorra glanced down at him impassively and let go of his hand.

"Your body is just this weak, Grimmjow. Even I could easily harm you in the state you are in." the smaller male turned away for a moment and drew a hunch close to the bed. "Your attack had no strength in it." He continued after he sat down. "I don't think you should leave this loft before you heal completely. You're vulnerable."

Grimmjow clicked his tongue; the other's choice of words and the fact that everything he said was true was a painful sting to his ego. He tried to turn toward the wall again but a hand on his shoulder, gentler this time, stopped him.

"Let me see your wound."

Grimmjow blinked, surprised by the other's concern. He was close to tell him off, but restrained himself. He huffed instead and lied back, allowing the other man to peel the dressing off of his skin.

"Once this shit is over I'll let you eat whatever part of my body you want so we'll be even. After that, I don't wanna see you ever again." He grunted while the dark haired man worked.

"No thank you, that offer is not necessary." Ulquiorra mumbled as he redressed the wound with fresh dressing. "Vampires don't taste good anyway. Although, I haven't tried pure-bloods before."

Grimmjow had to restrain himself, yet again, from smacking Ulquiorra. He closed his eyes for a moment as dizziness suddenly overtook him. Man, he hadn't felt this shitty since forever.

"Damn that wretched hunter." He grumbled through clenched teeth. Ulquiorra gave him a curious look.

"How did she manage to surprise you?" he asked, wiping his hands in a white cloth, staining it with Grimmjow's blood.

"Dunno. It just happened." The other breathed painfully, hiding the fact that he was the one who acted recklessly. His brows furrowed in thought and he glanced up at Ulquiorra questioningly. "How do you know the hunter was a woman?"

Ulquiorra folded the cloth and placed it on the hunch what currently served as night-stand, not hurrying to answer, what annoyed the teal haired man to no end.

"Her smell was lingering all over the park where I found you." He finally answered. Grimmjow lifted an eyebrow and gave the other an 'are you kidding me?' look before realising he was dead serious.

"You are creepier than I thought."

Ulquiorra looked at him impassively, his black and yellow eyes seeming to bore a hole into his skull.

"Do you want to take vengeance?" he asked, ignoring the last statement.

Grimmjow averted his gaze and stared at a spot on the opposite wall.

"Of course." He spat, like it was the most obvious thing ever. "No one messes with Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, especially not some lowly vampire hunter."

There was a short pause in the conversation before Ulquiorra spoke up again.

"How do you plan on doing it?"

Grimmjow shrugged, getting suspicious at the black haired man. It wasn't like him to ask so many questions, at least based on the little experience he had with the other.

"Do you know anything about her at all?" was the next question, with a hint of doubt in it.

"Her name." the teal haired man grunted. "She made sure I'd never forget it."

Ulquiorra nodded, deciding not to ask anything else for a while.

In the ensuing silence they could hear the quiet pattering sounds of the starting drizzle what became louder and louder as it turned into downpour. The cold wind forced its way into the loft between the roof tiles, making Grimmjow shiver noticeably. He tugged the old, musty covers around himself tighter, turning toward the wall again.

The rumbling murmur of the storm also got louder, so much that it was nearly deafening. There was a sudden flash and a moment later the earsplitting crackle of a lightning.

"It's possible that the roof will leak." Ulquiorra spoke up, his tone emotionless as usual.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Grimmjow grunted. He planned on leaving this shitty place as soon as he healed so why would he give a damn about it. He didn't have a clue where he could stay – he'd supposed Aizen's agent would offer him some kind of accommodation – but pretty much anything was better than the loft they were currently staying in.

A thought occurred to the teal haired man and he turned toward Ulquiorra, his curiosity barely hidden.

"Didn't you see… or smell a man around the park as well?"

"No, I didn't." came the immediate reply. "As far as I can tell there was no one else nearby."

Grimmjow clicked his tongue, running out of ideas. He had been waiting for that godforsaken agent for at least an hour, damning the fact that he had let himself be talked into the meeting.

The appearance of the hunter had instantly lightened his mood; he rarely came across one these days and it would have been fun to play with her a little before he killed her. The fact that he was the one who had nearly died made him bitter; either she was exceptionally good or he was way too rusty. He guessed both of them were true.

With a half-annoyed huff he flopped down again, deciding to go to sleep. The storm abated a little as it continued its way toward the West, the rumbling of the sky only a muffled, slumberous murmur in the background. Grimmjow closed his eyes, hoping for an undisturbed, dreamless sleep.

* * *

Neliel plopped down on her couch, placing a glass of wine and a book on the coffee table, intending to spend her night off relaxing. The storm was pleasantly murmuring in the background, the rain rattling against the window-panes. She turned on the lamp what was standing next to her sofa. The light illuminated the antique mahogany bookshelves, a commode and many smaller personal objects, creating deep shadows on the papered walls what were decorated with a few ceremonial swords and rapiers instead of paintings.

She sipped from the wine, savouring its rich taste for a moment before her attention was drawn to the book. She opened it with care and started to read the first poem.

_BLIP BLIP BLIP_

Her head snapped up in alarm before she let out a sigh and reached for her mobile phone. So much for relaxing.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Halibel." Came the familiar voice, sounding a bit worried. "Sorry for disturbing you but we have a problem and need your help."

"OK, just tell me where you are and-"

"No, not like that." The other woman interrupted. "We need you right where you are, preferably with your laptop. We'd like you to search for something in the organization's archives."

"Oh, I see." Nel answered as she got up and headed toward her study. "What happened anyway?"

There was a deep silence on the other end of the line, only broken by the low fizzling sound of the rain before Halibel answered.

"We've found another one."

Neliel halted for a moment in surprise before entering the study.

"Another victim?"

"Yes, another one with a chunk torn out of his neck. The only difference is that this chunk is much larger and the scene is a lot messier."

Golden eyes narrowed as she sat down at her desk and started her laptop.

"It seems like it's proven that the culprit was not the pure-blood."

"I agree. Stark has a suspicion that it's not even a vampire."

Nel stopped abruptly at the statement.

"Not a vampire?" she cocked her eyebrows. "What else then?"

Another deep sigh was heard before Halibel replied.

"Stark thinks it's a ghoul."

"A ghoul?" the younger of the two repeated in disbelief. "But aren't ghouls supposed to-"

"They are. We think it got interrupted both times."

"I see. I gather you need me to check out the registered ghouls' data."

"Yes, I called you because of that. Thanks for the help and sorry for ruining your night off."

Neliel smiled and shook her head.

"Never mind, poems and a glass of wine can wait. I'll call you back once I've found something interesting."

"That would be great, thank you. Bye-bye."

"Bye-bye."

Nel's smile faded as she set her cell phone aside, her brain switching to work mode. She typed in her identification number and password and as soon as the site logged her in she started browsing through the mass amount of descriptions, reports and data sheets. She ignored everything what was labelled with the word 'vampire' and concentrated on all the other files, hoping to find the keyword 'ghoul' in them.

Ghouls were creatures created by vampires, usually by accident. They were 'born' when a vampire failed to kill its victim, leaving them on the brick of death but didn't devote time and effort on transforming said victim into a vampire. They were almost as rare as pure-bloods but there was no reliable data regarding their number since even if one was nearby neither hunters nor vampires could feel its presence because they didn't have aura at all, similar to an object or a dead body.

Neliel was scrolling down the page when she stumbled upon something what aroused her interest. She clicked on the recently updated file and enlarged the small image what originally caught her attention.

"My God." She whispered in disbelief.

The photo was of a young man who was smirking arrogantly, a challenging glint shining in his honey brown eyes. The black T-shirt and the white jacket he was wearing gave a nice contrast to his dark hair and pale skin but didn't obscure his slim figure.

Neliel skimmed the text next to the photo to make sure she wasn't imagining things, her jaw dropping open slightly at its content.

"Aizen's agent?"

How could she not notice it while examining the corpse? True, his aura had faded away by the time and the rigor mortis prevented her to check whether he had fangs but still… it was just unbelievable.

The file what Halibel had about the agents didn't contain a photo of them but as she recalled one of said agents' description she realised she and Halibel could have at least suspect something.

Neliel exhaled slowly to calm herself down and set to type a short report about yesterday's events.

Hunters were expected to hand in reports about every mission they took within a week, even if it was uneventful. Neliel planned on writing hers on the next morning but seeing the new developments might be important in a larger context she decided to do it on the spot. She signalled the few paragraphs with both her name and identification number and sent the e-mail.

Now they had a dead agent - most probably killed by a ghoul – who was responsible for the appearance of a pure-blood in the area. The fact that said pure-blood was also dead by now was the icing on the cake.

She quickly dialled Halibel's number.

"Yes?"

"Check the victim." She gabbled as soon as she heard the other female's voice.

"Excuse me?" came the confused question.

"Check whether the victim is a human or a vampire." Nel said, suppressing the impatience in her voice.

There were some muffled noises and quiet talking. After about half a minute Halibel spoke up again.

"Human." She said plainly, still not understanding what Neliel was up to. "Why?"

The green haired hunter's shoulders slacked in disappointment.

"I've found an updated file about Ggio Vega, the agent who was supposed to meet Jeagerjaques. They enclosed a photo of him and it seems like he was the victim we've found yesterday."

Halibel let out a sound of shock. There were some whispers on the other end of the line as she shared her new-found knowledge with Stark.

Meanwhile Neliel started searching for the ghouls again, her brain trying to come up with acceptable theories regarding the recent developments.

"Nel?"

Without averting her eyes from the monitor she adjusted her mobile phone to her ear.

"Yes, I'm listening."

"Stark wants to have a word with you."

"Sure." She answered curtly and opened another file, this time one about the ghouls.

"Hi Nel, it's me, Stark." Came the male's voice what sounded merrier than usual. It seemed like the grim news didn't have much of an effect on him. "Long time no see, eh? You should totally visit Lilinette and me some time nowadays. How about a dinner on Saturday? I could arrange that night off for you."

Nel let a small smile creep over her lips.

"It's nice to hear you too, Stark and I'd gladly accept your offer but can we concentrate on the task at hand now?"

"Oh uh, sorry, I forgot you're not the procrastinating type." The man laughed, a hint of embarrassment laced in his voice. "Anyway, if that Ggio guy really was a vampire my suspicion is right about him being attacked by a ghoul. I haven't heard of a vampire biting another vampire after all."

"Me neither." Nel agreed while she kept reading the epitome of several reports about the ghoul appearances. "But you won't like what I'm about to say. There were four ghoul appearances registered in this county in the past ten years and all of those ghouls were killed by hunters right after they were discovered."

There was a short pause before Stark answered.

"Then this must be a new one. Ghouls only change location if their creator changes theirs. They basically follow them while keeping a safe distance so they wouldn't disturb them."

Neliel's brows furrowed and she half-consciously started massaging her temple.

"I don't have any experience with ghouls but I'm quite sure that this means I'll have to search for all new vampire appearances in the area."

"Precisely." Came Stark's reply what sounded strangely cruel despite the fact that he didn't mean it to sound like that.

Nel closed her eyes and huffed softly, preparing herself mentally for the long night. Then a thought hit her.

"Say Stark, is it possible for a pure-blood to create a ghoul?"

"Of course it is. Why wouldn't it be possible?" he asked on a slightly confused tone.

"Oh, nothing. I hoped that'd be your answer." She got something down on a sheet of paper lying on the table next to her.

"Glad to please you then." The man said with a humour filled voice. "Oh, and one more thing, Nel."

"Yes?" she stopped writing and listened intently to his words.

There was another short pause before Stark spoke up.

"Next time you have a night off disconnect that wretched phone."

Neliel chuckled gaily, shaking her head slightly. Stark was taking laziness and work-shyness to a whole new level.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said instead and hung up, a small smile still on her lips.

She flinched as a loud crackle echoed through the tract, followed by the flash of a lightning. She liked listening to the murmur of a storm but it wasn't so nice when she had work to do. She got up, leaving the phone on the table – not disconnecting it – to fetch herself a cup of coffee what would be her partner for working through another long night.

* * *

TBC

A/N: I kind of dislike this chapter, but I can't delete anything from it since the new info is needed to move the plot forward. Hope everything is clear now, if not, well, maybe next chapter…

I'm currently writing the sixth chapter and I have the majority of the plot thought out so I can tell you: this was the last slow chapter for a good while. I guess that's a relief for both you and me.


	4. Chapter 4

The distant sound of the boom of bells signalling midnight fainted precisely at the same time he stepped into the dark night. No one could be seen among the houses which greatly disappointed him, given that he was starting to feel hungry. He clicked his tongue in annoyance and took out his lighter and the packet of cigarettes from his pocket.

As the first cloud of smoke left his lips he felt moisture drop on his skin. He looked up at the dark, starless sky, frowning disapprovingly.

"Ch', just what I needed."

He extended his senses, looking for possible preys. A little rain wasn't going to stop him from hunting.

He shifted his weight from one leg to another, taking a drag from the cigarette. He concentrated on finding strong humans whose aura emitted more energy than usual. It was an advantage if they were young as well. That way they tasted better.

He was lifting the cigarette to his lips again, the motion stopping abruptly when he stumbled upon a familiar aura.

A face-splitting grin crept over his lips and he threw away the cigarette, the smoke he just blew out dancing around his face.

He backed up against the wall of the tenement, melting into the darkness before passing block after block lightening fast, disappearing and reappearing in the shadows, his grin widening further as he neared his destination.

It was time to visit old acquaintances…

* * *

Neliel looked up at the church tower when the bells started to sound and sighed inwardly. Four hours till the shift ended. She was out on hunting patrol with Lilinette, and even if the night was uneventful so far, she was afraid they'd encounter something far more dangerous than the girl could handle. She didn't know what Stark would do if something happened to the young hunter. He usually acted breezy and uncaring when it was her turn to go hunting but Neliel was aware of those relieved sighs he let out whenever Lilinette returned unharmed.

This was why Nel had strictly denied her earlier request to split up. Hunters hunted in pairs for a reason and unless the circumstances called for it, they didn't separate; especially if one of the two was as weak as Lilinette. The younger hunter had seemed sullen and slightly intimidated at first but she had gotten over it pretty quickly and continued chatting while they made the rounds in the town. The green haired woman let her, paying only half attention to her while focusing her senses on their surroundings. She didn't know why the girl insisted on becoming a hunter when it was obvious she wasn't ready to handle the task. She guessed it had something to do with her past or her connection to Stark but she chose not to inquire. Most hunters' past was often painful and it was an unwritten rule not to ask questions about it.

As the last strains of the bells died away, she signalled with her hand for them to stop. Lilinette looked at her questioningly and stopped her motorbike next to hers.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, her brows raised. Nel couldn't decide whether she should smile or frown at the way the other's hand clutched her pistol. It surely felt out of place.

"No, I just want to arrange the route we'll follow in the second half of the shift." She answered and took out a folded map from her jacket. She beckoned the girl and explained which part of the town they should head, tracing the lines of the streets with her fingertip.

She cleared her throat when she noticed the other was staring somewhere at her head instead of the map. The girl snapped out of it and mumbled a rather reluctant apology.

When she was sure Lilinette had impressed the route to her mind, Neliel folded the map and put it back into the inner pocket of her jacket. She was about to put on her helmet when the other's voice stopped her.

"How did you get that scar on your face?" she inquired off-handedly, not suspecting how much of an emotional turmoil she caused within the other hunter with her question.

Nel's head whipped toward her, shock written all over her face. Lilinette's eyes widened as well, her hand clasping over her mouth as she realised the mistake she had made.

"Sorry, I didn't want-" she stammered behind her hand but the other shook her head to indicate she need not to apologise.

"It's fine." She said and put on her helmet, partly to signal they should get going and partly to hide her expression. "It's an old wound anyway." She added and kicked the starter, the loud roaring of the motor and her barely visible frown giving her an almost angry aura as she started off.

It took Neliel a minute or two to realise that she should slow down and actually do her job: patrol the town. Moving about at full speed was hardly efficient when it came to spotting ghouls in the dark. She gradually throttled down, the sound of the motorbike's engine dying down to a silent purring.

Lilinette caught up to her half a minute later but kept her distance from her. Whether it was because she was afraid Neliel would want to hurt her or whether she wanted to leave the older hunter to her thoughts she wasn't sure. Nel glanced at her from the corner of her eyes, noting her hunched shoulders. She was probably just ashamed.

The green haired woman sighed and slowly drew closer to Lilinette.

"Do you have experience with ghouls?" she asked on a gentle voice, partly to break the uncomfortable silence and partly to direct her own thoughts away from the shadows of the past.

Stark seemed to know of those creatures and their habits quite well, and maybe Lilinette had learnt something from him.

"Not much." The young hunter replied with a shrug. "Stark told me things about them but I've never seen one up close before. Why?"

Nel turned her head and faced ahead, not looking at Lilinette while breaking the news.

"We aren't only hunting for vampires now. It's almost certain that there's a ghoul in the town somewhere. It has killed two people already, and on top of that, one of them was a vampire." She went silent for a minute to let the information sink in before continuing. "I suppose you know that ghouls follow their creator around till the end of their lives. Since there was no vampire activity registered in this area in the past two weeks other than the pure-blood I killed, I have a strong suspicion that it was following him. According to Stark and Halibel, the ghoul must have gotten interrupted that first time, which is why it had to kill another person so soon to sate its hunger. Given the fact that it couldn't eat the second corpse either, there's a high possibility that it'd try to kill someone again in the next couple of days."

Lilinette blinked at her with wide eyes. Then all of a sudden she punched the dashboard panel of her motorbike.

"Why the hell didn't he tell me this?" she snarled angrily. "I swear the next time I see him I'll beat him so bad he won't be able to walk straight for an entire _week_!"

Neliel couldn't help the bubbling laughter what erupted from her.

"Take it easy on him Lilinette, he is just trying to protect you." She tried to soothe the other hunter, though her efforts went without success as she kept raving and calling Stark names.

They had reached the outskirts of the town by the time Lilinette had finally calmed down a little. Nel could still see angry sparks in her eyes and occasionally the younger hunter would bare her teeth and mutter something what involved Stark's balls and castration.

The girl huffed angrily and turned to Nel.

"So what was this thing with the pure-blood? Did you really kill them? I've never seen one before but Stark says they're hella strong so I should keep out of their way."

Nel's amused smile was hidden beneath her helmet.

"Yes, I killed him the day before yesterday. Surprisingly he didn't put up much of a fight; in fact, he did n-

"Wait, the day before yesterday?" Lilinette cut in, surprising the green haired woman.

"Yes." She said with a little hesitation, brows raised questioningly.

"But didn't the ghoul attack someone yesterday evening as well? When Stark came home he muttered something about vampires being more than enough before he collapsed into bed. Now that you told me about the ghoul I'm sure he was referring to that."

Neliel's eyebrows shot up even higher, not quite understanding what the other was suggesting with her comment.

"And how does that change anything?" she asked carefully. She had a bad feeling about this.

Lilinette took a deep breath to buy a little time to collect her thoughts.

"The vampire you killed either couldn't be the creator of that ghoul who attacked somebody yesterday or the vampire is still alive." She deadpanned, her words causing Neliel to apply the brake and halt in the middle of the road.

"What?"

Lilinette stopped her motorbike as well, looking back at Nel.

"You said that the ghoul follows its master till the end of its life. That's not entirely correct. A ghoul follows the vampire till the end of _their_ lives. Once the creator of the ghoul dies the ghoul dies as well since the bond that chains them to their creator and to the world of the living shatters. Which means…"

"…Jeagerjaques is still alive."

* * *

She opened her eyes sleepily as the faint sound of rattling hit her ears. She sat up in the bed, the covers pooling around her waist. There was another rattle, a bit louder this time, coming from the direction of the front door. She carefully got out of bed, smoothing down her slightly tangled hair, and put on her gown, tying it messily around herself.

She tiptoed round the bed, silently opening the bedroom door and peeked out. The silvery gleam of the moon lightened the living room, the thick rays pouring in through the big windows. She could make out the shadows of leafless trees just outside the front garden but no other silhouettes could be seen.

Perhaps she was just imagining things…

She was about to close the door and go back to sleep when another faint sound reached her ears, though this time, she couldn't identify where it came from. She stepped into the living room, her hands balling into fists at her sides. Her brows furrowed as she neared the front door. She halted a few steps away from it, ready to call out, asking if someone was there when two strong hands clasped onto her shoulders.

She jumped and shrieked, her eyes wide with shock.

"Ssh, it's me." Came the soothing voice and she instantly relaxed, her shoulders slumping. "Why aren't you in bed? Did something happen?"

She closed her eyes and let her head drop back against her husband's shoulder.

"Just heard some noises and thought I'd check it out. Sorry, I didn't want to wake you up."

Ichigo hugged her from behind, his head resting on her shoulder lazily.

"Never mind, let's just go back to bed." He mumbled in a drowsy tone, pulling the ginger haired woman with him.

"Need your beauty sleep, hunter?"

Ichigo's eyes widened, all traces of sleepiness leaving him at the sound of the all too familiar voice. He spun around, instinctively stepping between Orihime and the source of danger, which happened to be a smirking vampire this time.

"What the hell are you doing here, Grimmjow?" he asked on a mildly angry and surprised tone, his gaze boring into the other man's.

The vampire pushed himself away from the wall that he had been leaning against before answering.

"How about a fight?"

"How about 'no'?" the vampire hunter straightened up to his full height, a warning edge to his voice . "Our score is settled, Grimmjow. You might find this insulting but I don't want to have a rematch with you."

The vampire furrowed his brows, his permanent scowl hardening, the frown reaching his lips as well. He did find that insulting. Not guaranteeing the chance for a rematch was plain unfair.

"Don't forget what you'd said, Kurosaki. I can fight you whenever I want."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he looked the vampire over with a piercing gaze.

"I would stick to my words but I don't remember _you_ ever agreeing to them."

Grimmjow sneered as memories of that particular night flashed into his mind. The deserted factory and its surroundings, the numerous gunshots echoing through the night, the adrenalin racing through his veins making him more and more reckless as the chase dragged on.

His sneer turned angrier, making Grimmjow look like he was baring his teeth as another memory came back to him…

The dull chronic pain spreading through his left shoulder brought him back to reality.

"All right hunter, I'll let this slide but I have a condition."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. Grimmjow giving up the chance to fight so easily? He sensed a trap here…

"What 'condition'?" he asked in a wary tone.

Grimmjow grinned at him, crossed his arms over his chest and motioned toward Orihime with his head.

"Send the chick out first."

Orihime's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden attention and she opened her mouth to answer but Ichigo cut her off.

"No." he growled gruffly at the vampire. "She has the ri-"

"It's OK." Came the quiet sound from behind his back and he turned toward her, momentary forgetting about Grimmjow's presence.

"But you-"

"Ichigo, it's OK." She repeated more firmly. "I'll go back to bed and pretend you guys aren't even here." Her face brightened, a smile creeping over her lips. "I'm not interested in vampire affairs after all."

"Are you sure?" he asked with a concerned scowl. She nodded enthusiastically and turned to leave. As soon as the bedroom door closed behind her she let out the breath she had been holding.

She lied. Of course she was interested in vampire affairs, especially if they concerned Ichigo, but she restrained her curiosity so she wouldn't cause unnecessary headache to anyone. She felt a bit anxious for leaving Ichigo with Grimmjow but she had faith in his powers. He was able to protect himself against the vampire if it came down to it, wasn't he…?

She shut her eyes tightly and clasped her hands in front of her chest, breathing a prayer. No matter what happened, Ichigo would return alive.

It was a pity she didn't believe her own words…

* * *

TBC

A/N: Dundundun, Nel finally finds out! Man, I'm itching to write more and finally bring them under the same roof again.

Oh yeah, Ichigo and Orihime are married, duh. I'm not planning on giving full details on their relationship or how they got together so even if you don't like the couple you can ignore their cameos. I'm not planning on bringing the whole Bleach crew into the story either, only those who have some kinda connection to Grimmjow and/or Nel. So don't expect many shinigami popping up anytime soon.

Sorry for the short-ish chapter anyway. To make up for it the next one will be almost twice as long as usual, zomg.

P.S.: Thank you codegal for betaing it. *glomps*


	5. Chapter 5

"Didn't you make sure he was dead?"

"I _did_. A silver bullet in the chest should be enough to kill a vampire, even if they are a pure-blood. He seemed dead; and since they don't have a pulse or any noticeable body functions, I could only go with that. Should I have just sat and waited till his aura faded or till the sun rose and his body fell to ash?"

Neliel buried her hand in her hair and let out a long sigh. Halibel and Stark exchanged worried glances. Neither of them had seen her so agitated before and they silently agreed that they didn't want to see her like that ever again.

They were currently sitting around a table in the hunters' general headquarters with a couple of other hunters standing around them. The news that a pure-blood was residing in the town, still alive and probably very hungry after having just healed from an almost fatal wound was serious enough to call a quick meeting.

"It's not your fault." Halibel began, hoping she could make Nel stop blaming herself. "It's extremely rare that a vampire survives such a fatal wound, but it's not unheard of. He must have gotten help from somebody, otherwise he'd be dead by now."

Neliel lightly tapped her finger against the surface of the table, her brows furrowed.

"His ghoul must have helped him somehow." She said after a minute. "I can't think of any other possibility."

There were no verbal responses from anybody in the room. All of the hunters were deep in thought, either worrying about those who were still patrolling the town or trying to figure out the details of the story.

"But why did a pure-blood appear here of all places?" a young hunter asked, pushing himself off of the wall.

Halibel cast a sideways glance at him, only now remembering that they hadn't told every detail to the others yet.

"Let's talk this through." She spoke up a little louder than usual, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "Two days ago, a ghoul killed Ggio Vega, one of Aizen's agents who organized a meeting with the pure-blood called Grimmjow Jeagerjaques in this town. Before these two could meet with each other, Neliel shot Jeagerjaques and left his body there, believing he was dead. Apparently he wasn't, which leads us to believe that his ghoul could have helped him and saved his life. We haven't found any trace of him since then but seeing that his ghoul killed another man yesterday, it's safe to say that he is still in this town."

Neliel nodded slowly, her mind still replaying the events of that night. She had failed to gather information about the vampire that would have been extremely useful at the time and now this. A pure-blood was on the loose because she missed the perfect opportunity to kill him. She felt obliged to make up for her earlier mistakes.

"This brings up some questions." Stark spoke up, noting that some of the hunters still looked confused. "First of all, why did he want to meet Aizen's agent?"

Nel finally looked up at them.

"I believe he wanted to join Aizen's army."

Stark nodded, seemingly agreeing with her.

"Second, has he healed by now?"

"Most probably, yes, but even if not, he doesn't need much more time to regenerate his body completely."

"Which means we can expect him to attack somebody in the next couple of days…"

"Just like his ghoul." Lilinette interjected.

"Yes, that too." Stark agreed and looked at his watch. "OK, next question: why would the ghoul kill the man who was supposed to meet with his creator?"

"Can we assume it disobeyed its master?" Lilinette asked with her eyebrows raised, looking rather puzzled. "I know they aren't supposed to… but what if this one has some tiny bit of willpower left in it?"

"That'd be unheard of." Halibel deadpanned and reached up to pull the silky scarf around her chin higher. "Ghouls obey their masters at all costs. If they accidentally make a mistake, they would make sure to ask their creator to punish them."

"That'd be delightful." Stark sighed and stretched lazily. "Maybe the vampire would kill it. We wouldn't have that many problems."

No one voiced their opinion about the idea, even though they agreed with him.

"Is it certain that the ghoul who killed Ggio Vega is the one who saved the pure-blood?" another hunter asked. Some heads perked up a little, eagerly waiting for the answer.

Stark and Halibel exchanged glances before the woman spoke up.

"We can't say for sure but there isn't any sign of another ghoul residing in the town. We haven't even sensed another vampire that would be necessary for a ghoul to be present here."

Most of the hunters nodded in agreement. It was pretty logical; no second vampire, no second ghoul.

"And what if the vampire has two or more ghouls? Isn't that possible?"

Halibel opened her mouth to dismiss the idea but paused. It _was_ possible. She had met vampires who had dozens of ghouls so it wasn't that much of a far-fetched idea.

"It's not impossible." She began carefully. "But let's not forget that it's not exactly prudent for a roving vampire who frequently changes location such as this one to have many ghouls following him everywhere. More ghouls mean more killed people in an area that would arouse more interest than only one or two disappearances."

"Either way, if we kill the vampire the ghouls die as well, no matter how many of them are around." Neliel said in a businesslike manner and rose from the table. She shrugged on her jacket and checked her pistol, heading towards the door when Stark's voice stopped her.

"Where are you going?"

She halted, her hand already on the doorknob. She turned only her head around and looked at the others impassively.

"Hunting." She said curtly and moved to exit the room but was stopped yet again.

"Neliel, you aren't planning on hunting at daylight, are you?"

She turned around more, noting Stark's amused smirk.

"It's still dark. We have at least an hour before day-break." She said matter-of-factly. She didn't know why the older hunter was trying to prevent her from doing her job. Wasn't it in his interest to kill the vampire as soon as possible? It was one thing for him to be a slacker, though he didn't need to turn others into one as well.

Stark got up from the table and Halibel followed suit. Lilinette looked up at them a little confusedly, but decided to stay put where she was. If their intention was intimidation, she was clearly useless; if they wanted to convince Neliel with some friendly advice, her presence might just worsen the situation…

"Nel, I know how you feel about this," Halibel began in a gentle yet firm tone. "But it'd be a waste of time to go search for him now. Remember, there are patrols in the town; if anyone saw him we'd know about it by now. Besides, you said so yourself that there's one hour till day-break. Jeagerjaques knows that too; I'm sure he has hid somewhere already. You wouldn't have a chance to find him."

The green haired hunter let out a resigned sigh and her hand slipped from the doorknob. Halibel was right, it would be almost impossible to find Jeagerjaques at this time.

"Fine, but I'll be among the patrols every night from now on." She said categorically, looking at Stark pointedly.

"I'll see what I can do." The man nodded then turned to the group of hunters in the room with a stern expression on his face. "We will double the number of patrols in the town, especially in the suburbs till we find and kill Jeagerjaques. Teams of four will patrol and no one is allowed to fall behind. If splitting up is unavoidable, then you split up in groups of two. If any of the patrols sense the pure-blood, you call for reinforcements and wait till Halibel, Neliel or I arrive. You are not allowed to attack the vampire no matter how vulnerable or harmless he seems at first glance. If he attacks first you _retreat_." He uttered the last word with emphasis. He paused for a moment to let the directions sink in before he continued. "Those of you who aren't good at sensing and reading aura," he glanced at Lilinette here, "are not allowed to hunt till we kill the pure-blood."

Indignant and disbelieving murmurs could be heard in the room. Apparently there was more than one rookie hunter in the group. A frown from Stark was enough to silence them.

"Those who are good enough to continue hunting will get their schedules tomorrow. Be advised that it'll be heavier than usual." He was ready to dismiss the others but something occurred to him. "Oh and one more thing. You can kill the ghoul if you encounter it."

As soon as Stark finished speaking, the hunters started scattering. He took a deep breath and headed toward Lilinette.

"Look, I know you don't-" he started as he neared her but was cut off as the girl pushed past him, deliberately shoving him out of her way more violently than necessary before storming out of the room.

Stark considered going after her but decided it would be futile. He let out a tired, resigned sigh, his shoulders slumping.

"Problem children?" a voice asked behind him. He turned to see Halibel standing there, a contemplative look on her face.

"Yeah, something like that." Stark muttered with a sad yet listless expression.

"I could talk with her. Maybe if someone else explained it to her she'd accept it sooner." She offered, but the man just shook his head.

"She'll get over it." He said and tried to flash a small smile toward Halibel, but failed miserably. He rubbed his face with his palm in a weary manner. "Working really doesn't do me any good. I feel like crap."

"You don't look any better." Halibel observed without the slightest intention to insult. He did not look well at all. Aside from the alarmingly dark circles under his eyes, his gaze was dull, not to mention his face seemed worn. "Go home and rest. You haven't slept much in the last couple of days. I'll manage alone."

"I can't until I re-organize the shifts. God, how I hate paperwork…" he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes for a moment to sort out his troubled thoughts.

Halibel put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The motion was a bit reserved and awkward but it was appreciated nevertheless.

"You wouldn't be of much use to us like this, and neither will it hurt if you leave it until this afternoon. I'll come over and help. Maybe Nel will help as well."

At the mention of the other hunter's name, they both looked up with alarmed expressions.

Where was Nel?

Their heads whipped around, both trying to search for the shocking green hair in the small crowd.

"She wouldn't be that stupid." Stark muttered under his breath and pushed his way through the people standing in the doorway.

"Nor would she go against direct orders." Halibel added, marching right behind him. She dearly hoped the younger woman wasn't planning what she thought she was planning otherwise she might just have to disarm her herself.

Cold and early morning mist greeted them as they stepped out of the building. The dooryard was barren save for a few quickset hedges and old stone benches. The haze covered the arid ground like a soft blanket, obscuring the dead grass from view.

"Extend your senses and search for her, I'll go and bring the motorcycles." Stark commanded and headed toward the back of the building where they kept the vehicles but was stopped by an unexpected voice.

"Did something happen?"

Both hunters' eyes widened as Neliel emerged from behind one of the hedges, her expression surprised and a bit confused.

"Nel, we thought… what were you doing here?" Halibel asked, exhaling a sigh of relief. Stark just rolled his eyes and threw his arms up in resignation.

At that moment, another figure emerged from behind the hedge.

"Well, I thought I'd get a breath of fresh air…" Nel began and looked down at the girl standing next to her. "But I found her here, sitting on one of the benches, freezing to death." She put her hand on Lilinette's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

The young hunter was still shivering, even though she was wearing Nel's oversized leather jacket over her thin clothes. It seemed like Neliel didn't hold any grudges anymore like she thought she did. The fact that she talked to her, tried to help her and even lent her her jacket was proof enough.

The girl looked at the newly appeared hunters sheepishly then stubbornly turned her gaze away. By doing so, she missed Stark's little smirk.

"OK, since the whole drama is over with, can we go home now?" The man asked and yawned widely. Lilinette sent him a pointed look but her gaze softened after a moment. He looked beyond exhausted. Maybe Nel was right; she shouldn't push things too far. If she went out hunting she'd just make Stark worry… not to mention she wouldn't be of much use against a pure-blood. It was clear Stark didn't need any more trouble at a time like this.

"Thanks for the help." She murmured to Nel and slipped out of her jacket, giving it back to the other.

"You're welcome." The other hunter replied in a low voice, a small smile playing on her lips.

The girl walked up to Stark with a gruff expression on her face.

"Are we going or what?" she muttered. "If you haven't noticed, I'm freezing my butt off."

The man smirked and patted her head.

"K', let's go."

As they disappeared into the house, Halibel stepped closer to Nel with mirth shining in her eyes.

"It was nice of you to talk to her."

"I benefited from it too." Nel answered with a little shake of her head. "It helped me to get my mind off of Jeagerjaques."

"Then you should go home before you start to think too much again."

Nel smiled at her tiredly as she moved to put on her jacket.

"You might be right."

* * *

She let out a loud sigh as she slowly slipped into the hot water, her aching muscles relaxing instantly. She reached up to bury her hands in her hair, holding the green mass up so it wouldn't get wet. She leant back against the tub, resting her head on the edge and let her locks fall back. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to focus on the smell of the bathing oil.

She felt her brow twitch as her mind wandered back to the vampire.

How dare he stay alive when he'd seemed so dead? She was so sure she'd managed to kill him and she'd felt almost lucky when they'd found out that he was a pure-blood. After all, it wasn't every day that a hunter managed to kill one without getting hurt, not to mention how easy a kill he had been. She didn't think of him as a trophy like most other hunters who had managed to kill vampires of the same ilk, rather, she only felt relief at the idea of a dangerous monster eliminated. Finding out that he was still alive was like having a bucket of icy water poured on her.

She wanted to shut them out but no matter how she tried to avoid it, her thoughts always ended up revolving around Jeagerjaques. She struggled for another five minutes before she gave up.

Neliel huffed in irritation and stood up, her body covered in lather. She drained the water and quickly dried herself, tiptoeing her way to the wardrobe to take out a fresh pair of shorts and a tank top, her usual sleep attire.

She swiftly dressed and left the bathroom, heading to the bedroom. As she crossed the living room her eyes caught on the book still lying on the coffee table. A smile crept over her lips and she sat down in the armchair, taking the volume into her hands. Reading a couple of poems would only help to calm her mind down a little.

She flipped the book open and started to read the first poem.

'_However cruel the mirrors of sin_

_Remember, beauty is found within_

"_Forever shall the wolf in me desire the sheep in you_._"_

Neliel's eyes widened in alarm as a hoarse voice whispered the last line into her ear. She shot up from her seat and spun around, the book falling out of her hands. A choked gasp left her lips as she beheld the intruder standing right behind the armchair.

"Didn't expect me, did you?" the vampire asked with a grin. "Nice taste by the way, Holopainen's one of the very few good poets among the many shitty ones my tutors had tried to knock into me."

Ignoring whatever the vampire was saying, Neliel moved toward her jacket, but his next words stopped her.

"Looking for this?" he asked and lifted his hand to eye level. Nel bit back a curse as she set eyes on her gun, currently dangling from the vampire's finger. She inhaled sharply and scanned the room at a glance.

"Don't even waste time on it," came the mocking remark as Grimmjow lifted his other hand, holding a smaller pistol in his palm. "Either you keep these in too obvious places or your bath time's too long. I found these with ease and I even had time to look around a little." he motioned toward the wall with his head, keeping his eyes on the hunter. "You have a nice collection of swords."

"I was planning on throwing those out." she retorted dryly, hoping to gain a little time. "The previous owner left them here. I don't like surrounding myself with weapons."

The vampire only laughed and made his way around the armchair. Neliel stepped to the side so she wouldn't be trapped between him and the furniture. Her mind was racing, searching for possible ways to gain the upper hand. Making a dash at him and trying to recover her guns was out of the question; that'd be as good as signing her own death warrant. No, she needed to keep as much distance between him and herself as possible.

Her brows furrowed as her eyes caught on the bedroom door which had been left wide open, the darkness obscuring her bed. She did have a third gun there, right under her pillow. Maybe if she was fast enough…

She moved without thinking further, hoping the element of surprise would gain her at least a few seconds. She felt her heart racing in her chest and her breathing speed up in a span of moments as the adrenalin spread through her veins.

The air was knocked out of her as she bumped into something hard, the impact so strong she almost fell back.

She looked up to see the teal haired man in the doorway slamming his hands into the doorjambs with a loud snap, blocking her way to the room. He had an insane grin on his face and a predatory gleam in his eyes.

"I'm starting to enjoy this." He said in a low, raw voice. Every muscle in his body was taut with excitement, waiting for his prey to try to run away so he could catch her again.

Neliel felt frustration come over her. There was no way she could outrun the vampire, the room's dark shadows granted him too much of a good setting to teleport. She didn't even feel him disappear, much less materialize right in front of her.

"Tch, come on, don't start playing deer in the headlights with me." Came the annoyed taunt from above her. "Try to escape."

The heathen was truly enjoying this. Her fists clenched at her sides in anger. She refused to run away. Instead she slowly started to back away, keeping eye contact with the vampire. He was watching her with half-lidded eyes, his grin slowly melting away into a wicked smirk.

She knew he'd teleport in front of her as soon as she turned her back on him. She could try to somehow let Halibel and the others know that she was in danger, but she doubted she would be able to even finish dialling her number before the pure-blood attacked her.

She snapped out of her musings as the vampire stepped toward her, his hands slowly gliding down the doorjambs. She noted that the solid hardwood sidepieces were splintered in the places the vampire's hands had hit them. Even if she knew that pure-bloods possessed such inhuman, raw physical power, the view still shocked her. Now there was one more reason why she needed to keep a safe distance from him.

As he stalked closer and closer, that wicked smirk still plastered on his face, Neliel realised they wouldn't be playing this game for long. She might be able to escape a couple more times at best but the vampire's patience wouldn't last long and he'd kill her soon.

She felt her back hit the wall and her heartbeat speeded up even more. The teal haired man must have noticed her unease because his smirk widened and he quickened his pace. Neliel's eyes swept the room, hoping to find something that would be of use before it was too late.

Her glance settled on the swords that lined the walls around them. Better than nothing. They might not be made of silver but they could serve as a stake. If she was lucky enough to somehow stab him in the heart, he'd surely die.

The vampire was only a few steps away from her when she suddenly reached up and drew out one of the swords from its sheathe. Grimmjow's eyes widened in shock at the bold move but before he could do anything, Neliel lunged forward, aiming to run the sword through his heart. The vampire twisted his torso in the last moment, the blade only tearing up his shirt to scrape the skin of his chest and his shoulder as it slid further still.

Both of them cursed aloud; the hunter for missing, the vampire for not reacting fast enough.

Neliel quickly pulled the sword back to give it a second try. She only had a brief second to gasp for air before the vampire appeared right behind her, his hand clasping around her throat, his thumb pressed hard on her pulse point.

She folded her hands over the hilt of the sword and brought them up to elbow the man in the stomach but nearly dropped the blade as a piercing pain shot up to her head. She bit her bottom lip to stop the scream that was forcing its way up her throat. Her temples pulsed and she felt like her brain wanted to blow up.

After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably no more than a couple of seconds in reality, the pain subsided and she weakly slumped back against the body behind her, not even realising she was leaning on the vampire for support while trying to catch her breath and to wait for the ringing in her ears to stop.

"Nice, isn't it?" the man asked with a snicker and cupped her chin, pulling her head up a little and turning it so she was looking at him. "Did any of the pure-bloods you've encountered do this to you? I bet they couldn't get close enough to do so. At times like this, I'm glad I'm a pure-blood and not a regular vampire…" he paused for a bit, his grin widening. "our abilities are so much more fun."

From the change in his tone of voice, Neliel could assume he was about to resume tormenting her, so with as much strength as she could muster in her current state, she brought her arms up and elbowed him in the side, knocking the air out of him. His hold loosened enough for her to twist her body around and break free from his grasp.

"Was that blood manipulation?" she asked, panting. She hoped to ply him with words till the after effects of the vampire's move wore out.

"Yeah. I feel kinda bad for using it against such a weak creature as you human, but what the hell, it's payback time."

Neliel unconsciously clenched her teeth at the vampire's words which only made the teal haired man grin even harder. Just the reaction that he had wanted to achieve.

"But you know what?" he continued and slowly walked up to the wall, keeping his eyes on Nel all the while, and unsheathed another sword. "I'll play fair and stick to your choice of weapon."

Before the hunter could utter a word, Grimmjow dashed forward and swung the sword down with all his might. Instead of blocking it, Neliel sidestepped; she didn't know if she was strong enough to match the pure-blood's physical strength so she deemed it wiser to parry only if it was absolutely necessary.

Utilizing the split second the vampire needed to lift his sword again she moved forward. The angle wasn't right for trying to stab the other in the heart so she decided to slash the teal haired man's forearm that was holding the blade.

"Shit." He hissed as the weapon pierced his skin. His other arm stretched to backhand her but she swiftly moved out of his reach.

"Where did you learn to fence, hunter?" he asked offhandedly as he moved to face her. His injury was light, but the sight of his thick blood dripping down his arm gave Neliel a little hope.

"My seniors taught me." She replied curtly and took up a defensive position. She thanked whatever god was listening that Halibel insisted on her learning it, saying that every pure-blood who was born before or during the Purification was trained with swords. Neliel never would have thought she'd encounter one who would still be interested in sword-fighting nowadays.

"Let's see if they did a good job." Grimmjow snickered and before Neliel could change her hold on her sword, he dematerialized.

Her eyes widened first in surprise then in shock as sharp pain shot up her spine. She let out a painful gasp, the sword falling out of her hand and landing on the floor with a loud rattle. Nel closed her eyes and her hand moved to her side to try to block the flow of blood pouring from the deep gash.

"Not so agile now, are you?" Grimmjow asked with amusement in his voice. The hunter could feel the thick locks of her hair being moved behind her shoulder. She opened her eyes, confused at the other's act and was met with the sight of the vampire's blade hovering millimetres away from her throat. "Now, should I just behead you or stab you in the gut in the same place you shot me?" There was a small pause before the pure-blood snickered. "And what if I turn you into a vampire? Or even better, a ghoul?"

Nel's head shot up, horror and disgust clearly visible on her face. Seeing her expression the vampire chuckled and lowered his sword, leisurely drawing closer to her, his intentions way too clear.

"One more step and I'll shoot you full of silver."

Both Nel's and Grimmjow's head whipped toward the door where the snarling voice came from.

"Ichigo!" the green haired hunter exclaimed but gasped a moment later and doubled over in pain.

The orange-haired man swiftly moved next to her, his gun aimed at Grimmjow all the while, as he put his free arm around her shoulders to support her.

"Don't worry, I called Stark and Halibel, they should be here any minute. They'll take care of you."

Nel could only gulp and nod. She didn't need to look down at the wound; she already knew it could be fatal if the bleeding didn't stop. The blood was gushing down her side, soaking her clothes and continuing its way down her leg. There was no way her body could regenerate fast enough to close the wound in time; her regeneration skills weren't good enough to do that.

She felt extremely weak; she was barely able to remain standing. Her head swam and she was starting to feel sick. She took deep breaths but that didn't help at all. Spots danced in front of her eyes and she knew she was on the verge of passing out. When her legs buckled Ichigo cursed and clasped her under her arms.

"Hold on just a little longer." He murmured and all she could do was lean on him and nod. "Grimmjow, I'm gonna kill you once this is over, you son of a bitch."

Even though her consciousness was faint, Nel's brows still furrowed at that. How did Ichigo know Jeagerjaques? She was about to voice her question when the door burst open and a very worried looking Halibel emerged from the darkness.

Her eyes swept over the occupants of the room, lingering only a moment longer on the still smirking vampire. She made a mental note to crucify that bastard later.

"Where is Stark?" Ichigo asked as Halibel stepped closer to help Neliel.

"Important matters." The dark-skinned woman answered curtly after a lengthy pause. She helped the green-haired hunter to the sofa and immediately attended to her wound. She quickly pulled off her gloves and put her hand on the deep gash, applying minimal pressure.

"More important than a comrade being in danger and a pure-blood being caught?" Ichigo asked indignantly without looking away from Grimmjow.

The teal haired man snorted at that. Caught, eh?

His attention was drawn to the two female figures on the sofa. The dark-skinned one's hand was bloody as she was trying to stop the bleeding… and it seemed like she was succeeding. Grimmjow had to take a double take. There was no fresh blood coming from the wound, but it didn't close up either. What the hell…?

"How are you feeling?" Halibel asked on a low voice, ignoring Ichigo's question.

Neliel sat up a little straighter with a wince and nodded.

"Still weak but better. Thank you. My powers should be able to heal the wound overnight."

"You'll need to rest more than one night." Halibel chided. "You lost too much blood. You may feel fine now but just try to stand up and see what happens."

Neliel scowled at that. She need not stand up to know what effects the blood loss had on her. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, leaning back on the sofa.

"How did you know I was in danger?" she asked on a tired voice, not even having the energy to glare at the vampire.

"He showed up at my place and started asking questions." Ichigo spoke up, frowning warningly when Grimmjow smirked. "He was too vague for me to guess what he was up to." He paused and took a shaky breath. "I think I accidentally blurted out that you lived in the Western purlieus. That must have been enough for him to locate you by searching for your aura."

Nel lifted her head in surprise and stared at Ichigo, who was still showing his back to her. Her gaze shifted to the vampire eventually, hardening when he grinned at her.

She opened her mouth to tell the orange-haired man that he wasn't at fault but the door burst open again and a breathless Lilinette appeared in the doorway.

"Kurosaki…!" she started and gulped, gasping for breath. "Stark called. You have to come immediately!"

"Wha- ? Why? Wait, what happened?" Ichigo asked in confusion, stepping a little further away from the pure-blood.

Lilinette propped her hands against her knees as she took a deep breath. She looked up at the man with unusually serious eyes.

"Aizen kidnapped your wife."

TBC

* * *

A/N: And they meet again. Finally the fun begins. (It was about damn time.)

Anyway yeah, blood manipulation. Not a traditional vampire trait but I vaguely remember reading a vampire story where they had a similar ability. Since I don't wanna make up a bunch of different abilities for the pure-bloods I decided I'd go with this. It's both vampire-ish and powerful, and combined with the inhuman physical power and teleportation it should create enough of a power gap between normal vampires and pure-bloods.

Oh yeah, I still need to introduce a normal vampire so you can compare their power. Well, damn.


	6. Chapter 6

Grimmjow couldn't help the smirk what crept over his lips. After a minute of stunned silence, absolute chaos ensued in the room. Kurosaki snapped at the girl despite knowing she wasn't at fault and kept shouting. Neliel was trying to calm the orange-haired man down while the dark-skinned woman dragged her back to the sofa. Everybody was bombarding the newcomer with questions who in turn yelled at them to 'just shut up and come already'. To Grimmjow's eyes, the scene was downright comical.

For a moment, it seemed like they had totally forgotten about his presence. He was about to use that chance to disappear but a pair of golden eyes meeting his gaze stopped him in the last moment.

"You know something about this, don't you?" Neliel asked in a dry tone, moving to stand up but Halibel's hand on her shoulder firmly pushed her back.

"How would I know?" the vampire barked, annoyed. He suddenly felt the urge to light a cigarette but resisted it. The last time he smoked in her presence, it hadn't turned out too well afterwards.

Ichigo's head whipped toward Grimmjow and he stared him in the eye. For a moment, it seemed like he was about to attack him but his shoulders slumped and he exhaled heavily.

"Let him be, Nel." He muttered. "I'm sure he's not guilty for once."

"But Ichigo, he may be Aizen's agent al-

"He _used to be_ Aizen's agent." Ichigo interrupted roughly, which shocked the green haired hunter. She stared at him with wide eyes, her mouth opening and closing. "As I said before, let him be." Ichigo mumbled in an apologetic tone, suddenly looking strangely tired.

"I don't need your damn protection, Kurosaki." The teal haired man spat angrily, agitated by the support Ichigo was showing. He could fight his own battles without any help; he didn't need the damn hunter poking his nose into his business.

Ichigo looked up, his gaze flaring, a slight hint of hysteria visible.

"You…" he strode to the vampire and grabbed his collar. "shut up already. Be glad I don't inculpate you. As things are now you could have easily been a distraction for me while Orihime was kidnapped." Ichigo let out a heavy sigh and his grip loosened on the other man. "But I know you better than that. Seeing your past with Aizen and that you had your own business here…" he glanced at Nel, his eyes showing regret, "you're as good as guiltless in her kidnapping. But…" the hunter hesitated for a moment before his grip tightened on the vampire's shirt again. "you'll help us."

Grimmjow's eyes widened in shock; he was not moved by the other's speech in the very least, but that last little sentence was something he couldn't ignore.

"Like hell I will! Who do you think I am? Your friend?" he yelled angrily and tried to shove the other man away.

"Someone who _owes_ me." Ichigo hissed between his teeth and yanked the vampire closer so they were face to face. "Don't forget who saved your ass from that bastard." He said in a low voice, his intense gaze boring into the vampire's. Grimmjow could only snarl furiously. Ichigo exhaled, trying to calm down. His hold on the pure-blood lingered for a moment before he let go of him.

Grimmjow's chest was heaving in anger. He was enraged by the other man's words and the fact that he was right. He huffed and lifted a hand to rub at his temple.

In the next moment Ichigo was sent sprawling to the ground, blood sprinkling from his nose as Grimmjow hit him.

"_Fine, _you fraudulent motherfucker."

* * *

That's how they ended up in the same car.

Grimmjow could only fume inside at the very idea of him travelling by such a pathetic human vehicle. No matter how much he insisted on simply teleporting to the hunters' general headquarters, Ichigo was hell bent on not letting him go alone, either because he was afraid Grimmjow would violate their agreement or because the hunters would attack the pure-blood the moment he showed up there.

It didn't help that _she_ was sitting next to him either.

Neliel had been heading for her motorbike when both Ichigo and Halibel had called out to her that she shouldn't even think about it. She had tried to convince them but seeing that she was still weak and had an open wound in her side, they had both persisted in her getting in to Ichigo's car. She had stubbornly refused at first but when she'd beheld Ichigo's pleading look, she'd realised they had been just wasting time with this.

She hadn't known Jeagerjaques would travel with them, though.

She cast a sideway glance at the vampire. He was staring out the window, his chin leisurely propped up by his hand. He was still in the clothes he had been wearing on that ominous night, the only difference was that his shirt was stained with dry blood. Neliel had to stiffen a little smirk at that. At least they fit each other, she thought sarcastically. She gave herself the once-over. She didn't even have time to change clothes and to clean herself; she was still wearing her blood-soaked tank top and thin shorts, the red fluid smearing her skin down to her knee.

Frankly, sitting next to her wouldn't have been that much of a problem. She didn't seem like the kind to bring up the happenings of the past couple of days or to start bragging about how she almost managed to kill him. As long as her mouth was shut he would be able to ignore her, or so he had thought.

The problem was that she still managed to assault his senses without even trying. He looked her over from the corner of his eye, his glance stopping at her thigh. All that blood drying on her skin and soaking her clothes… the smell was so strong, so delicious. He inhaled deeply and felt his insides tighten in hunger. Only if he hadn't wasted time on playing with her… he could have sated his hunger if he just bit her when he had the chance.

His gaze trailed up to her neck. It would be so easy… he'd just have to lean closer… close his mouth on her artery… sink his fangs deep into her… suck her dry…

He groaned inwardly and forced his eyes away from the tempting sight. He was going to go crazy if they didn't get there fast enough.

* * *

Grimmjow was thankful that they reached their destination quickly, due to Ichigo driving like a madman and going twice as fast as the speed limit would have allowed. Halibel and Lilinette had barely been able to keep up with him on their motorbikes.

The hunters' general headquarters was nothing like Grimmjow imagined it. It was plain, old and quite untended. Its large garden was unweeded, heaps of leaves were rotting under the randomly placed large oaks or scattered on the cracked concrete sidewalks.

A man with dark brown hair and blue eyes greeted them on the porch. He eyed Grimmjow warily but after Ichigo explained why they had brought him with them, he seemed to accept his presence with a rigid nod. He guided them inside without a word, ignoring Ichigo's questions regarding Orihime's disappearance.

The interior was just as plain as the outside of the building. Seedy tiled floors, bare, unadorned walls and minimal furniture. None of the luxury that a pure-blood would have expected or was used to. It seemed like the building was bigger than what Grimmjow had assumed at first. They travelled corridor after corridor, occasionally passing in front of an open door to an office or a hall.

It was no small wonder that Grimmjow had had enough after spending about five minutes among his arch enemies. The occasional hunter that they'd come across were giving him strange and distrustful looks, some of them even clutching their guns like they were looking for an opportunity to shoot him. He could almost feel his aura being read by numerous people. Fucking perfect. This was even better than Aizen's supervision had been, he thought bitterly.

He felt relief wash over him when the leader of the hunters escorted them up to the second floor where none of those weaklings were present.

Stark opened a massive door and flung it wide open. He motioned with his hand for the ladies to enter the office first. When Lilinette hesitated to follow the two older women, Stark scowled.

"I want you to be present, too," he explained. "Make sure to pay attention during the meeting because you'll inform the others of the current events and our plans."

A surprised look crossed the girl's face before she nodded sharply and entered the office. Stark waited till Ichigo followed suit.

Grimmjow was the last one in the line, trailing behind the others with a reluctant expression on his face. He halted when he noticed Stark's stern gaze on him.

"There are four people in this room who can kill you, vampire." The older man said in a low voice, making sure the others didn't hear it. "Stir any crap and you are dead."

Grimmjow clicked his tongue in annoyance. Like he'll be intimidated.

"A little correction, _hunter_: try anything funny and that girl…" Grimmjow motioned toward Lilinette with his head "won't leave this room in one piece."

The pure-blood suppressed a little smirk as the other man's look hardened. Levelling the scores: check.

He strolled into the room and flung himself into the nearest armchair. He could hear Stark entering and closing the door a little too forcefully. Grimmjow's amused smirk dropped when a row of lustres were lit up, basking the room in glaring light. The vampire looked up to see the man passing by him, sending him a warning look, before sitting down behind his desk.

Grimmjow huffed and settled down. His eyes swept the room, noting the numerous light sources. The office wasn't all that big so the amount of lamps and chandeliers seemed overkill. One thing was for sure: whether it was intended or not, there wasn't any dark shadows left in which he would be able to use for teleportation.

"All right, since it seems like we won't need to hunt for the pure-blood anymore," Stark began, at which Grimmjow's eyes shot back to the other man, sending him a glare. Stark continued on blithely, "we can concentrate on finding Orihime. Aizen had her kidnapped during the time Ichigo was at Neli-"

"Your people were supposed to keep an eye on her!" Ichigo interrupted, his voice strained. It was obvious he was trying not to yell. "You knew she was a potential victim. How is it possible that they didn't notice anything?"

Stark exhaled heavily and rubbed his forehead. Someone should sedate that boy, he thought absently.

"We think Aizen used his own ghouls to kidnap her. Since they don't have aura they could sneak in easily and take her with them without anyone noticing them. The fact that she wasn't killed on the spot makes me suspect that Aizen has further plans with her."

"Further plans, no soap." Grimmjow snorted. All eyes turned to him, waiting for him to elaborate. He muttered something about helpless hunters under his breath in annoyance before continuing. "That chick has only a couple of days left, tops. The ghouls will take her to Aizen's current hideout as soon as possible. If she's lucky she'll be allowed to rest a day before Aizen drains her. I'd calculate with four or five days at max."

Ichigo stared at him with wide eyes and made a move to stand up but a pointed look from Stark forced him back into his seat.

"But why would Aizen take on that much trouble just for a feed?" Lilinette asked puzzled. "If he is that powerful wouldn't it be easier to just kill whoever crosses his path?"

"It's not that easy." Stark answered. "Orihime was labelled as a potential victim because of her pure nature. To put it bluntly, draining a pure being is like hitting the jackpot for a vampire. Not only do they taste better but it is also believed that the blood of such a being gives them a power boost. Knowing how power-hungry Aizen is I'm not surprised that he grasps every opportunity to increase his might."

"All right, then tell me where his hideout is and I'll go rescue Orihime." Ichigo requested sharply.

Stark turned to Grimmjow with raised eyebrows, indicating that he expected him to answer the question.

"I'd know that by now if this idiot didn't shoot me that night." The vampire grunted, pointing at Neliel with his thumb.

"Watch your mouth, Jeagerjaques." Halibel snapped, sending him an icy glare.

"Pardon my French." He replied, hiding his own annoyance behind a cheeky grin. The dark-skinned hunter was supposed to be one of those people who were powerful enough to kill him. He wasn't stupid enough to get on her bad side with too many hateful comments.

He extended his senses, examining how strong she could be. His grin disappeared and his eyes widened a fraction when his senses grasped… absolutely nothing. It was like Halibel wasn't even there.

"You wouldn't know that even if I didn't shoot you." Nel stated calmly, unaffected by his name-calling, redirecting his attention to her. "The agent who was supposed to meet you was killed before we met."

"Oh, so you guys did some vast purging that night, didn't you?"

"We did not." The green haired hunter replied. "Ggio Vega was killed by a ghoul. Your ghoul, to be exact."

"Ulquiorra? You gotta be kidding me." Grimmjow snorted, quickly overcoming his first shock. "Why would he kill someone who I wanted to meet anyway? It's almost like going against orders and ghouls don't do that."

"We don't know yet. It could have been an accident."

"Would you guys stop rambling about insignificant ghouls?" Ichigo snapped. "My wife is about to be killed in the next couple of days, I don't care about anything else at the moment. Just tell me how I can find Aizen's hideout and I'll leave you to chat about whatever you want."

"You don't understand Ichigo, this is not only about Orihime but Aizen's wa-"

"I said I don't care, goddamnit!"

"Enough of this!" Stark raised his voice and everybody else fell silent, either shocked or scared by the sudden outburst. "If you want to know so badly Ichigo we can only find Aizen's current residence if we follow the ghouls. Since they are dragging Orihime with them, they can't use their wings to increase their speed so we still have a chance to catch up with them. But to be able to do so, we first have to find them. I will order some of the better hunters to look for their tracks. We'll join them in the searching tomorrow. Neliel needs to regenerate and seeing that the sun is almost up, I doubt the vampire would really enjoy strolling outside just yet."

The last comment earned a glare from Grimmjow but Stark ignored it.

"I agree wholeheartedly," came Halibel's voice behind her collar. "The ghouls can't move around in sunlight either so they'll have to wait till the sun sets again. Orihime was kidnapped mere hours ago; they couldn't have gotten too far just yet."

"All right then, I suppose the meeting is over for now." Stark said and stiffened a yawn. "Nel, just to be on the safe side, make sure to see a medical orderly before we go out hunting. Lilinette, you go and inform the others about the recent developments. Halibel, I want to have a word with you in private."

He stood up, signalling that the others were free to go as well. Creaking noises filled the room for a minute as the chairs were pushed back to their places.

"Oh, I almost forgot about our dear guest." Stark said with an unconcerned expression on his face, causing Grimmjow to halt in the doorway. "To avoid such a powerful _ally,_" the vampire snorted at the empasised word, "from roasting to death under the sunlight, I suggest we find him a dark hole where he can hide during the day while he is staying with us."

Neliel didn't fail to notice the condescending edge to Stark's voice. It was strange; usually he was not like that at all, despite him being the strongest of them. He simply wasn't the kind to look down upon anyone, even those who were his enemies. What was different now?

"We could fit one of the storerooms up for him." Halibel spoke up and tugged at her scarf. "Since they are in the basement, he wouldn't have to worry about the sunlight."

Before Grimmjow could voice his disapproval, Stark spoke up.

"Excellent idea. I'll send someone to do the job right away." He turned to Grimmjow, a slight smirk on his face. "I hope you are a heavy sleeper because those storerooms are next to the shooting range."

With that, he motioned to Lilinette and they left the room, leaving a stunned vampire behind.

* * *

TBC

A/N: I just found out that this vampire turning people into ghoul thing was actually featured in Hellsing. I haven't read/watched Hellsing before so all I can say is that great minds think alike. *is bricked* Oh well, at least those who do know Hellsing understood that part better.

Btw, I have a question for you: do you think that AUs are somehow less "worthy" than those stories that take place in Bleachverse? Like, the authors who write AUs just do it because it's "easier" and they wouldn't be bound by canon? Do share your thoughts, I'm really interested in them.


	7. Chapter 7

Two figures lay on the couch, lightly embracing each other. Their features were obscured by dark shadows, thick curtains preventing the feeble light of dawn to pour into the room. The windows were open, letting in the chill of the morning but neither of them seemed to be bothered by it. A cool breeze was caressing their faces and stirring their hair; the only movement in the deadly still room.

"Are you sure you want to go?" the gruff yet quiet voice broke the heavy, seemingly eternal silence.

"Yes." murmured the female figure and tilted her head to nibble on the male's neck. "Don't worry, I can handle it."

"I'm sure you can… but I'm worried that you might have to face _him_. I don't really want that to happen."

A long sigh was heard and she dropped her head lightly on his chest, her hand playing with the fabric of his shirt.

"Me neither, but I can't hide every time something like this happens."

"You are allowed to hide, you know." Came the light-hearted answer, accompanied by a friendly pat on her waist. "You help a lot already, I understand if you don't want to risk everything."

Her only reply was a rare but all the more appreciated smile and a lingering touch on his upper arm before she freed herself from his embrace and stood up.

"Thank you but my mind is set." She said as she adjusted her clothes. "Make sure to rest a little before the night falls."

With that she strolled out of the room, heading toward her own quarters.

* * *

Grimmjow had the urge to bristle and grumble under his breath as he examined his sorry excuse of a room. It was barely large enough to accommodate the bed – which was too small for his liking anyway – and the table next to it. He huffed angrily, uncrossed his arms and sat down, only to nearly fall backward and hit his head on the wall as the bed sagged under him, giving away that some of the springs were broken.

'_Oh, for fuck's sake.' _He grouched inwardly and sat up. Even the loft of the tenement was better than this. He was so going to get the hell out of here as soon as he could.

The sound of sharp knocking pulled Grimmjow out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Halibel standing in the doorway, her fingers still resting on the doorpost.

"Stark asked me to bring this to you." She said coolly and stepped closer, handing him a small, black object. Grimmjow grimaced as he examined it. A mobile phone… great, yet another human device he was forced to use.

"Keep it on you. You might need it later on." She said sternly, almost like an order. "I brought fresh clothes, too. If you want to take a shower you can use one of the stalls in the bathroom on the ground floor. It's next to the staircase, so you can't miss it. For everyone's safety, including yours, make sure to wait till every hunter is finished there. Stark and I don't want to see any trouble in the headquarters, no matter who might cause it." She finished quickly and after flinging a small pile of clothes onto his bed she turned to leave, but Grimmjow's voice stopped her.

"Why can't I feel your aura?" he asked forthright, causing the hunter to whip around. "If I didn't know how real ghouls looked like, I'd think you're one."

The predator in Grimmjow sensed a pang of fear in her the moment he asked about her aura… well, wasn't that interesting?

"That's none of your business." The hunter forced out and was heading toward the door but the other's voice stopped her again.

"OK, then let's talk about something else. Why are you so protective of her? She's a grown up woman and a powerful one at that. She can sort out her issues on her own, ya know."

Halibel turned back to him, frowning.

"You mean Nel? Why do you want to know so badly?"

Grimmjow merely shrugged.

"Just curious."

"Curiosity is not a welcome trait among hunters."

"I'm not a hunter, nor will I ever be one."

"But you are among them for now. I suggest you not to ask too many questions here."

"The infamous 'past of the hunters' thing, eh?" Grimmjow smirked and tilted his head, looking arrogantly at the woman. "Is your lack of aura and your past connected somehow? Or is it something else? Does Nel have anything to do with it?"

Halibel's eyes hardened even more, if such a thing was possible, and she reached for her gun.

"What's the matter?" came a sleepy yet strangely firm voice, a hand slipping onto Halibel's, effectively preventing her from pulling out her pistol.

"Nothing." The dark-skinned hunter spat and stormed away.

Stark watched her till she disappeared around a corner. His eyes turned back to Grimmjow and he lifted an eyebrow at him.

"What did you say to her?"

"Nothing that would agitate her that much if she didn't have a little secret." The vampire said with a smirk and lay back on the bed, putting his arms behind his head.

Stark eyed him warily before turning and slowly walking away.

"I suggest you to back off a little and leave the members of this organization alone. Someone might snap and harm you." He said over his shoulder, a threat clear in his voice.

Grimmjow bared his teeth in annoyance and anger. He had to make sure to repay his debt to Kurosaki as soon as possible. He doubted he could spend any more time with these people… and to think this was only the first day.

He huffed and turned onto his side, willing himself to sleep.

His eyes snapped wide open a minute later as realization suddenly hit him. The lack of aura, the defensiveness, the hunters. It was all so obvious now.

'Well, fuck me sideways if this isn't the most messed up thing ever.'

* * *

He marched out of the bathroom, buttoning up his new, clean shirt. Now that the sun had gone down, they were about to set the gears into motion. He could barely wait to get the hell out of the headquarters and finally hunt again, even if it was only for ghouls and a human girl he wasn't even allowed to drain.

He was walking in a dark corridor toward the main hall when he bumped into someone he really didn't expect to see so soon again.

"Oh look, you're fine already? Seems like I wasn't too thorough, was I?" he chuckled and fastened the last button, leaving the top two open.

Nel let out a sigh at that.

"I might be fine but I don't have the energy to deal with you at the moment. Can't we just ignore each other while we head to the main hall?"

Grimmjow pretended to ponder that.

"Actually… no, we can't." he sneered.

The green haired woman merely stepped aside and tried to walk away without a word.

"Hey, not so fast!" Grimmjow exclaimed and grabbed her by the arm. "I'm not finished with you."

"I do not wish to start another figh-"

"I just wanna ask you a damn question." The teal haired man growled impatiently.

Nel paused at that and arched an eyebrow. "What about?" she asked warily.

"'Bout your friend."

"Tia?" Her eyebrows shot up even higher. "What business do you have with her?"

"Aside from thinking she's as much of an ice cube as Ulquiorra? Not much." He admitted and seeing that the hunter didn't try to get away, he let go of her. "But I think I discovered something really interesting about her that might be important for me."

Neliel visibly stiffened, her eyes widening a fraction. "And your question is…?"

Grimmjow smirked, prolonging the silence, trying to reel the other up so her reactions would be stronger. "Do you know anything about her lack of aura?"

"No, I don't." came the immediate reply, surprising the vampire. He did not expect that reaction.

Nel spared him one last glance and turned to leave, trying to get to the others and away from the man as quickly as possible.

"Your precious friend's a fucking vampire!" he yelled after her heatedly, without thinking.

He was pressed up against the wall a moment later, the barrel of her gun pushed hard against the juncture of his jaw and neck, pointing upward so if she decided to shot him, his brain would end up splashed all over the walls.

"Do not mention it, no matter the place, no matter the time." She said in a low voice, surprisingly calmly.

Grimmjow was staring at her with wide eyes and opened mouth, his muscles taut before he let out the breath he had been holding with a shaky laugh. He relaxed completely, even resting his head against the wall.

"So you knew it. Well, can't say I'm surprised."

He decided he'd let the other keep the illusion of the upper hand for a while. He could have easily overpowered her but where was the fun in that?

"Indeed I did." Nel nodded. "However, it's rather unfortunate that you came to know it too."

"You shoulda expected that another pure-blood would realise it sooner or later."

Nel seemed to think it over for a minute. "How did you find out about it?"

The teal haired man's grin widened.

"I remembered that there's a vampire artefact that can completely mask one's aura." His brows furrowed in thought. "But it's rare as hell. I wonder how she got her hands on one. People would kill for that kind of thing. Did she-?"

"No, she didn't." Neliel interrupted. "If you want to know the answer so bad, it's because I gave it to her."

"Now that's surprising. So you're the one who killed for it instead? Was it in the possession of one of your pure-blood victims?"

The hunter seemed a bit taken aback by that. She was silent for a few minutes before a barely noticeable smile crept over her lips.

"Yes, you could say that." She said and Grimmjow had the urge to kick himself. It was obvious she was lying; she accepted his own explanation in hopes that he would be satisfied with it and leave her be. Now he could only curse himself for putting words into her mouth.

"Fine, have it your way. I'll find out the truth eventually either way."

"And why is this so important to you?" she asked finally after a lengthy pause.

Grimmjow shrugged. "It's rare to find another pure-blood nowadays. It's kinda like reuniting with a long lost relative… Though I guess I've managed to make her hate me." He added the last part with a half-amused smile on his lips.

"I see." She said, lowering her voice. "I won't kill you for knowing it because you are our ally now… but you have to give your word that you won't tell anyone about it. Though, I'm unsure if giving your word means anything to you at all."

Grimmjow snorted and grabbed her wrist, forcing the gun away from his neck. The hunter seemed shocked as she was pushed backwards, a good foot away from the vampire.

"Don't question my honour if you want to live." He growled out and stepped back, letting go of the green haired woman. "I won't spread it around. I'd gain nothing of it if I did."

"Alright." She slowly put her gun away. "I'll tell the others who know about it that you are aware of it too. Don't expect them to be too friendly with you, especially Halibel."

"Not much of a change there." Grimmjow muttered absently. "Besides, I'm not sure if I want to get any closer to her to begin with. There's just something sick about a vampire killing other vampires with a gun and silver bullets." He shook his head and turned to leave. "You coming? The others are probably waiting for us." He called over his shoulder.

Nel let out a relieved sigh and moved to catch up with him. At least one problem was seemingly solved.

. . .

The nightfall came rather quickly and the hunters were gathering in the main hall. Stark was standing in the middle of the crowd, giving out instructions.

They were the last ones to enter, several eyes turning to them. Grimmjow clenched his jaw to prevent himself from mumbling some obscenities under his breath.

"Everybody shall act as instructed. I won't tolerate any insubordination. Was I clear enough?"

"Yes, sir!" came the exclamation from the hunters.

"Let the hunt begin then." Stark murmured and the people scattered, each going to do his or her job, leaving only him, Halibel, Neliel and Grimmjow in the room. "They should take care of the West and the South. However, we still need to search the East and the North so I'll post the most powerful hunters there."

"But where is Ichigo? He could help a lot too." Nel asked, craning her neck, hoping to behold the mop of orange hair somewhere in the room or on the corridors.

"He is not in the building anymore." Stark answered. "I'm afraid he simply couldn't wait and ran off on his own."

"That idiot." Grimmjow mumbled.

"I agree for once. He'll just get in trouble, as per usual." he turned to the dark-skinned hunter. "Tia, I think you should go north and see if Orihime was dragged away to that direction. Jeagerjaques, yours is east."

A wide grin spread across Grimmjow's face. He didn't wait for any other instructions. He was out of the room in a flash, leaving everybody behind.

Stark sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"I'm not sure this was a good idea. He is just as rash as Kurosaki." He muttered and glanced up at Nel. "Could you follow him? I have to stay here to monitor and control the searching and I'm afraid to send Halibel because it might turn out… quite unfortunate for her, if you know what I mean. Sending a weaker hunter after him would only result in him killing them. Besides, you know him the best among us."

Nel sighed inwardly in resignation and nodded.

"I'll keep an eye on him."

* * *

TBC

A/N: Dear God, was this rushed or what? At least some parts of it were. Sorry about that. It was kind of a filler chapter, but I hope to bring some action and some more GrimmNel into the next one. Sorry once again. ;_;

Btw, who knew that Halibel was a vampire? I've been hinting at it since chapter one, I wonder how many of you noticed.


	8. Chapter 8

He was running through the darkness, his body pulsing with excitement and new energy. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this unstoppable. He was like a hound that was finally unleashed and free to hunt. The adrenalin washed through him like a drug, his muscles tensing and relaxing with the movement.

One thing was bothering him, though.

Hunger. Ravenous, painful hunger. The desire to kill something, bury his fangs into it and drain it till there was not even one drop of blood left in the lifeless body.

Vampires could go without blood for weeks after a feed but they only delayed drinking blood if it was unavoidable. Grimmjow's body had used up too much energy to heal him and thus it was craving food again, a lot sooner than usually. He knew he wouldn't last another week.

He snapped out of his thoughts as quiet laughter hit his ears. He scolded himself for not extending his senses sooner. The excitement he felt from being able to hunt again overrode his circumspection.

He halted in a gateway; discovering two auras nearing him a few seconds before two people came to view as they turned a corner. It was a man supporting a young woman with an arm around her slender waist. From the way they walked it was obvious that they were tipsy.

Grimmjow's mouth twitched. Drunken people weren't the best prey ever. Their intoxicated blood always gave him a headache but this was not the time to be fastidious. He was hungry and those two would be an easy target.

He pulled back a little, melting into the shadows. He was eagerly waiting for the couple to come closer to his hiding spot, his muscles taut. The laughter and the sound of the woman's high heels pattering on the pavement got louder as they neared him.

He was a hair away from attacking them when another aura entered his perceptual zone. Then another one and at least six more following behind.

The hunters.

'_Shit.'_

He quickly dematerialised and appeared a few blocks away in a dark alley.

This wasn't going to work. The town was overrun with vampire hunters, partly due to the disappearance of Kurosaki's woman and partly because Aizen had finally made an open move again. Grimmjow could outwit a few weak guards but not when the town itself was like a swarming beehive.

Not to mention he was supposed to work with them in the first place. He spat at the idea. They never told him that he was forbidden to hunt but he was pretty sure they would treat him as an enemy if they discovered he killed a human.

He gritted his teeth as he made a decision. He would wait till he got to the next town. He could easily outrun the hunters and hopefully he wouldn't have to worry about them appearing right when he was about to pounce on the prey.

With that in mind he teleported away, heading towards the east, hoping that he would stumble upon another town or a village before he starved to death.

. . .

This hopeless searching was annoying at best, Grimmjow thought as he bent down to avoid getting scratched by the branches of the young trees. His instincts told him he should follow the track of game leading through the little forest, stretching between two plough-lands though he didn't expect to find the ghouls and the woman anytime soon.

Not only that, they didn't leave any trail behind and Grimmjow wasn't even motivated to find them. The only thing that kept him going was the pressure of his debt to Kurosaki. As soon as he repaid that, he would leave the county and keep himself far away from the hunters. He had planned on searching for other pure-bloods after he had deserted Aizen but his recent almost run in with Halibel left him quite sceptic about his conception.

His trousers got caught in one of the nearby scrubs and he wrenched his leg forward with a grunt. His brows shot up as he caught sight of something glaringly white on the muddy ground. He crouched down to examine it and was surprised to see a piece of lace caught on the thorns of the shrubs. He didn't have clear memories of how the Kurosaki woman's nightgown looked like but upon closer view, the lace seemed to be a piece torn from the selvage of the gown.

Well, at least his instincts still served him right.

He picked up the material and pocketed it. He looked around, pondering where they could have disappeared. Sometimes, even if he would have never said it out loud, he wished his sense of smell was as good as the ghouls'. He wouldn't have needed even that piece of cloth to scent the woman. All he would have had to do was follow the sickening stench of the ghouls. Where the hell was Ulquiorra when he needed him anyway? That freak might have been able to find his fellow freaks faster.

His fingers raked through his hair and he groaned, beyond annoyed with the whole situation. He started toward the North, deciding that he needed to act as fast as possible so he could be done with this stupid 'mission'.

. . .

About half an hour later, long after he had left the little forest behind, lights started to appear on the horizon and he couldn't help but grin. Finally, another city.

He sped up as much as he could, disappearing and then reappearing hundreds of metres ahead. By keeping up such a pace, he arrived in the suburbs a few minutes later, his chest heaving with excitement. His head whipped from left to right, trying to spot anyone on the streets. His exaltation dropped a little when he found no one, not even after he extended his senses as much as he could. He started toward the centre of the small town, growling low in his throat when minutes passed without anyone crossing his path.

He stopped in the middle of a park, close to an illuminated fountain. The sparkling droplets of the fine spray hit his skin and he had to repress a shiver running down his spine. He stepped away from the light and moved to a more shadowed area. He was staring far ahead of himself toward the shop-windows on the other side of the street while he was racking his brain, trying to come up with something. He could spend hours combing the town for people on the streets or he could just break into a house and attack the occupants. While the latter seemed to be faster and guaranteed a sure feed, it was still more dangerous, given that it was a lot more alarming and that he hadn't done that in years.

He grumbled some obscenities under his breath and was about to get going when the distant sound of jingling hit his ears. He halted in mid-step and squinted as the door of one of the shops – a clockmaker's shop, judging from the showcase – opened and a doddery old man stepped out.

The vampire huffed. It seemed like he could only meet poor quality food tonight. Oh well, the little old man was pretty much a lifesaver and Grimmjow wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He materialized right behind the man who just finished closing the shop's door, the keys clinking between his shaky fingers. The clockmaker recoiled a little when he turned and nearly bumped into the vampire.

"Can I help you with something, lad?" he asked with a friendly smile, his eyes shining in such a way it was obvious he was keen-sighted, despite his age.

"I should be the one to call _you_ lad." Grimmjow said with a snort and struck down the man with little effort before a confused expression could even cross his face. He caught the limp body so the head or neck wouldn't get injured when hitting the ground. The feed felt a lot better when the prey's heart was still beating.

He laid the old man – funny how he kept calling him old when he himself was nearly three times older - on the ground carefully. Grimmjow leaned closer to the unconscious body, ready to sink his fangs into it. He stopped abruptly when he felt the poke of something hard on the back of his head.

"Release him, stand up and back away from the body." Came the oh-so-familiar voice. Grimmjow slowly turned his head around, a grin spreading over his lips.

"Hey, long time no see. Did you follow me?"

"Yes, I did." Came the honest reply. "Get away from the body." Neliel repeated firmly and motioned with her free hand as well.

"Geez woman, I haven't eaten in almost a week now and that's not so bearable after a nearly fatal injury. Are you trying to kill me… again?"

Neliel inhaled sharply at that. She hesitated only a moment before she came to a decision, unconsciously nodding to herself.

"I'll give you blood, just leave him alone."

Grimmjow's grin disappeared and he perked up a little, curiosity piqued.

"I hope you aren't thinking of blood bags or something like that. I've tried that shit before and I didn't like it."

"No, it'll be fresh blood." She reassured him.

Grimmjow's brows furrowed in thought.

"Not some kinda animal's blood…" he said slowly, keeping his eyes on Nel, gauging her reaction.

"No, it'll be fresh human blood… right from the source... who is young and powerful, surely better than that old man you are trying to kill now." She added, wishing the vampire would just comply already.

Grimmjow's eyes lit up at that. He didn't have a clue how the hunter could provide him that, but now that his curiosity was piqued, he couldn't turn down the offer. Besides, he reasoned to himself, even if it turned out that the 'replacement' didn't please him, he could still come back for the unconscious clockmaker.

"Show me the way." He said with a lazy grin and stood up.

Nel slowly lowered her gun and put it away. She motioned for him to follow her and turned around, heading back toward where she left her motorbike.

She could hear the man's quick steps behind her as he fell in line with her. They were walking side by side in silence for minutes before Nel voiced a question that had been bugging her all day long.

"Why didn't you try to attack me again after the incident at my place?"

She didn't look at the vampire but a small chuckle let her know he was rather amused.

"I've already repaid my debt to you. If I decide to attack you again it'll be because I'm hungry and in need of a prey."

Uncertainty flashed through the hunter regarding her plan but she pushed it away. Backing off now would surely result in angering the man.

"What 'debt'?" she asked instead, still not looking at the other.

"You almost killed me, remember? I repaid that little favourwith almost killing you too. Now we're even."

Her eyebrows shot up at that and she turned her head toward him. Judging from his expression and the look in his eyes, she could tell that he was quite serious.

"That sounds a bit muddy to me." She said honestly.

"Nah, I just like to keep things simple. Measure for measure." He fell silent for a few moments. When he spoke up again, his voice was uncaring. "At least be happy I'm offering a truce for the time being."

"For the time being? Should I expect you to backstab me some time in the future when I let my guard down?"

Grimmjow snorted.

"Who do you think I am? I like to play fair if you haven't noticed."

Nel watched him from the corner of her eye for any sign that would prove that he was lying. She was truly surprised when she found that he indeed told the truth. Well, either that or he was a very good liar.

"Nice to hear at least somebody does nowadays." She said bitterly, trying to get her mind off of unwelcome memories. "It makes me feel a bit more sure about what I'm about to do."

Grimmjow halted.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked suspiciously, his eyes narrowing.

"You'll see." Nel answered. "We're almost there."

Grimmjow eyed her warily before he caught up to her again.

"This better not be a trap." He mumbled under his breath.

Nel smiled to herself.

"Believe it or not I don't use cheap tricks either."

With that said, she stopped and turned toward him. Grimmjow arched an eyebrow and looked around. They were standing in a dark alley, Nel's motorcycle not so far away from them.

"So where's the blood you promised?" he asked, starting to sense a trap or at least a scam regardless of what she had said just a moment ago about not using cheap tricks.

"You'll get it in a moment… but there are some conditions." She said, her tone becoming more businesslike.

"Conditions?" he grimaced. "Make it quick or I'll just go back and drain that man after all."

"There are only two of them." Nel assured him. "First, when I say stop, you stop drinking. You can't kill the prey."

Grimmjow pulled a face at that but nodded for her to continue.

"Second, I'll be aiming at you with my gun the whole time to make sure you respect the first condition."

The vampire grinned, pulled his hands out of his pockets and started rolling up his sleeves.

"Alright, I accept. Young and powerful blood sates the hunger at least four times better than old and weak so I guess I still come out of this better than with that old fart."

When he was ready he crossed his arms over his chest.

"'K, where's the prey?" he asked and looked around again, waiting for something to shift in the shadows and make an entry.

"Right in front of you."

His head whipped back to Nel, only to catch sight of her unzipping her jacket and pulling its collar to the side. She flipped her long hair behind her back and tilted her head to the side, exposing her neck.

"I'm your prey. Now drink so we can get this over with as soon as possible." She said, not a hint of fear in her voice.

Grimmjow stood dumbfounded for a couple of seconds before a razor-sharp grin spread across his lips, his eyes narrowing and a new, strange glint flaring up in them.

"If you want it so bad." He leered and moved closer.

Nel gulped almost unnoticeably as he loomed over her, blocking the light of the streets from her view. She hoped to God she hadn't just made the biggest mistake of her life.

He could feel both of their heartbeats quicken - for different reasons, though - as he leant closer to her. He slowly inched even nearer, taking his time, finding her uneasiness amusing. She had to repress a shudder when his warm breath fanned over her skin, making it tingle even before his fangs and lips touched it.

A low growl sounded from Grimmjow's chest as his patience flew out of the window. He grabbed her shoulder to make sure she didn't flinch away from him before he bit down greedily, his fangs slipping easily into the warm flesh.

A small hiss escaped her at the stinging pain but she got over it quickly. This was the first time she had ever been bitten, and even though she knew it was both dangerous and unpleasant, she found it was something she could easily handle. The pain was minimal and as long as she didn't lose too much blood, she would be fine. Though she guessed Grimmjow would have something to say in that matter.

"Don't create too much of a mess." She said, hoping to warn him while he was still coherent.

"I'm dainty like a cat." He snickered into her neck and set to lick up every drop of blood.

"You are enjoying this a bit too much." Neliel noted disapprovingly. "Do you act like this with every prey of yours?"

A snicker sounded again and Grimmjow lifted his head slightly to peer up at her. The hunter's eyes widened a fraction when she was met with the sight of her own blood covering his lips, shining wetly in the dim light, painting his teeth a dull reddish colour.

"No, I don't. I'm just satisfied because the roles switched again."

"What roles?" she asked, her brows furrowed in confusion.

The vampire didn't answer immediately. He bent down again and licked a long trail up her neck to collect the trickling blood with his tongue, making Nel flinch.

"The roles of hunter and game. I don't like being the game."

"Just as expected from someone whose name is Jeagerjaques."

She didn't get a verbal reply but she could feel the man smiling – or more like grinning – against her skin.

"What direction should I head toward?" she asked out of the blue. She hoped if she concentrated on the mission she could momentarily forget about the fact that a vampire was sucking her blood.

"What are you talking about?" he asked confused, feeling the daze creeping up at the back of his mind. He'd be out of it in minutes.

"The ghouls. Where did they take Orihime?"

"Why do you bother searching for her anyway? I'm faster than you and I have better instincts so it's a given I'll find her sooner."

"I have an advantage over you." Nel explained. "No matter how fast you can travel during the night, you can't move around in daylight. I only need five hours of sleep a day while you are bound to your hideout for almost half of the day. Besides," she continued before Grimmjow could voice his opinion. "she is my friend. I can't just sit around and do nothing when she is in danger."

The vampire paused for a moment, his brows furrowing even more than usual.

"This friend business again. Kurosaki kept babbling about that the whole time." He murmured to himself. When he saw Nel open her mouth, probably to question him about what he had just said, he changed the subject. "I'm not sure where they took her." He admitted reluctantly. "Head toward the North if you really wanna keep going but other than that, I have no idea. Aizen has a lot of estates but there're abandoned buildings that he could use as well. You're the hunter so you should be able to tell what kind of buildings would attract a vampire." He finished with a smirk and set back to drink her blood.

Neliel noticed that his eyes were becoming duller by the moment which meant that the daze was about to hit him. His pupils dilated and his eyes were shining like that of a delirious man. His movements were less coordinated but more forceful.

Two minutes later when he grabbed her shoulder harder and attempted to press her against the wall to devour more of her, she decided it was time to put an end to this ordeal.

The vampire staggered back when something hard was pressed against his chest, pushing him backwards. He glanced down to be met with the familiar sight of the hunter's gun, this time resting against his pectoral muscle, aiming at his heart.

"Ain't fair." He grumbled like a drunken man would. "Since when did ya have that pulled out?"

Neliel didn't bother to answer him. She knew from Halibel that she would only waste her time trying to communicate with a dazed vampire. Grimmjow would soon collapse and sink into a trance-like state that would last for a few hours. A pang of worry shot through Nel at that. What if he didn't regain his senses before the sun rose…? It would be unfortunate to lose an ally after all, she thought to herself afterward.

She lowered her gun when she saw that the vampire didn't intend to follow her. With one last look at him to make sure he wasn't about to dash out at her the moment she turned her back to him, she started toward her motorbike.

She couldn't wait for this mission to be over and done with.

* * *

TBC

A/N: Don't know how many of you know this but the 'Jeager' in Grimmjow's name means 'hunter' in German (written as 'jäger'). So when Nel says 'Just as expected from someone whose name is Jeagerjaques.' she means GJ is a hunter by default. Hope that made sense.

Next update might take a while. Check my profile to see if the upcoming chapter progressed anything.


	9. Chapter 9

Orihime was sitting by the window, her head resting against the wall. Her dull eyes were staring at the unmoving landscape outside. The rain was falling heavily, the shining drops gliding down the outside of the glass, drawing entangled patterns on it.

It had been three days since she had been kidnapped. The ghouls had kept dragging her until she'd almost collapsed from exhaustion but they hadn't stopped to rest. Even despite being more enduring than her, she'd noticed that they'd looked tired after some time, too. She had almost felt relieved when they'd finally reached the old manor-house, even though she knew only death would await her there.

So far they had treated her well. She had been given food and was allowed to have a bath. They acted around her like she was their guest but she was sure their leader had dangerous plans for her.

_She was perfectly aware of each of her captors' rank; it was a knowledge that automatically came with Ichigo's occupation. The ghouls who had brought her here disappeared from sight right after they arrived to the mansion. She __saw some lowly vampires lurking in the shadows of the old building, measuring her, a crazy glint shining in their bloodshot eyes. She gulped and her heartbeat sped up, fear blooming inside of her. _

_Thankfully, two fracción also called servant vampires, showed up before those… things could do anything to her. They guided her inside the building where their leader was waiting for her._

_She'd heard about him before. Whenever Ichigo invited other hunters to their place the conversation was bound to end up revolving around Aizen Sousuke. Some of the rumours about him led her to believe that he was a monster, the most cruel and horrifying creature ever in existence._

_But as she stepped into the cosy, warm living room and laid eyes on the man sitting in one of the old, red upholstered armchairs, she couldn't help but think that the rumours must be false and based on a misunderstanding. It was only a momentary impression caused by a welcoming smile and the friendly aura but it reminded her all the more to be wary of this man._

_The vampire watched her fidget nervously with the hem of her gown for a minute or so before a kind smile spread over his lips and he motioned toward the chair opposite to him._

"_Please take a seat, Orihime." His voice was smooth and dark. The moment it hit her ears she felt like she was drawn in by a power and she would have sat down even if she didn't want to. _

"_T-thank you." She forced out and as soon as the words left her lips she realised just how bizarre that sounded. _

_The vampire kept eyeing her in silence, his gaze all but burning a track on her body. She gulped nervously and looked away, her eyes settling on the exit guarded by two fracción. She felt both disappointed and relieved. On one hand their presence meant she didn't have a chance to escape; but on the other hand… at least she wasn't alone with Aizen in the room._

"_Excuse me for not being a good interlocutor." The vampire spoke up at last after the long silence, redirecting her attention back to him. "I was merely reduced to speechlessness." He leaned forward in his chair, causing Orihime to sink into hers further. "I believe your presence simply hypnotised me." He whispered confidentially. _

_He was staring at her with such intensity that Orihime had to look away again. This was the moment she realised exactly how right those rumours were. The man in front of her was a monster under his refined mask. He addressed her as a person but thought of her as nothing more than _food_. He eyed her like someone would an expensive but exquisite bottle of wine. A shiver ran down her back._

The sudden peal of thunder startled her and she jolted up, the dullness disappearing from her eyes. She blinked at the unchanging landscape outside, her gaze settling on the swaying trees and the rapidly falling autumn leaves in the distance, glowing golden in the last rays of the setting sun, contrasting beautifully with the dark sky behind them.

The mansion was located near a forest, far away from any city or village so there was no chance someone would stumble upon her and call for help. Ichigo and later on Stark had tried to prepare her of what to do if this ever happened to her but now that she was experiencing the real thing, she found those instructions were harder to follow than she had thought.

She wondered if the others had noticed her disappearance yet. She didn't know whether Stark would allow the hunters to even attempt to find her. He was their leader and the lives of his people were more important than a single human. He had said that as long as she didn't challenge the vampires and didn't act hostile, her life would be spared for a few days. Ichigo had given her the same speech much earlier, though one thing was different in his and Stark's advices: she couldn't let Aizen drain her blood. When Ichigo had said this he meant she needed to prolong it as much as possible; when Stark had said this he meant that if it came down to it she needed to find a way to deprive Aizen even the possibility of ever drinking her blood, even if it demanded drastic measures from her. The implication had been clear in his voice. A small, sad smile crept over Orihime's lips. She was a cheerful person in general, not one to sink into deep depression, much less entertaining the thought of committing suicide. Yet here she was, trying to think up a way to get her hands on a sharp enough object…

Her focus shifted to the glass of the window rather than the landscape behind it. How long would it take for the vampires to get into her room after they heard the glass breaking?

She gave a start when something clinked against the pane. She stood up from her chair and peered outside, her brows furrowed. Her room was on the first floor, so the leaves of the trees blocked her view to the ground but she could still spot something shifting on the leaf-litter.

Her eyes widened and she had to repress a gasp of shock as a familiar figure stepped into view.

She lifted her finger in front of her lips, signalling Orihime to keep quiet, not to let anyone know she was there. She was holding onto a tree with her other hand to support herself. She felt incredibly weak and slightly wobbly but the other woman didn't need to know that. She motioned with her hand for Orihime to settle down and wait for her.

Nel looked around, trying to decide how she could get inside the building without anyone noticing her. The vampires would wake up as soon as the sun settled so she needed to act fast. However, she couldn't guarantee the success of the mission in her current condition. She scolded herself mentally. She shouldn't have let Grimmjow drink her blood so soon after she was wounded so seriously. She would be no match against even a lowly vampire in this state.

Maybe she should have waited for Grimmjow to catch up with her. They had been following each other for the past three days. Their senses were extended constantly, perfectly aware of the other. Whenever Grimmjow had changed directions she had changed hers as well, going after him. At first she had been wary, expecting him to mislead and ambush her but he stuck to his words and played fair. She had kept going at daylight as well when the vampire had to stop and find shelter from the sun. At those times she could do nothing but keep going ahead, hoping she didn't get too far from the right direction and that maybe she would stumble upon Orihime's aura. Her and Grimmjow hadn't talked to each other nor had they gotten close enough to even see one another from afar but they could still communicate. If Grimmjow showed up after nightfall on the periphery of her senses but immediately changed direction and disappeared, that meant she had been going the wrong way during the day. At first she had been surprised he even took the time to go after her and warn her about her mistake but she didn't question his intentions for the time being. If it meant they could find Orihime sooner then so be it.

But waiting for Grimmjow would have meant waiting for the ghouls, lowly vampires, fracción and pure-bloods in the mansion to wake up as well and easily gain the upper hand…

With her mind made up Nel approached the tradesmen's entrance, gun in her hand. Her fingers slipped onto the doorknob and she murmured a quick prayer before she twisted it.

The door was locked. She exhaled sharply in disappointment and reached into her pocket. If it hadn't been important for her to stay unnoticed she would have just shot the lock and marched in but right now she couldn't allow herself that luxury. That and Stark was hell bent on picklocks being cheaper than silencers.

She pulled out the little object from her pocket and fumbled with the lock before the satisfying click hit her ears. She slipped in and closed the door behind herself. The corridor was empty and dark, louver-boards and tick curtains preventing the light to permeate into the rooms; first class proof that vampires lived in the house.

She paced as silently as possible while she searched for the staircase that would lead her up to the first floor. She had only needed to walk down a corridor and turn a corner before she found it.

She was relatively sure where Orihime's quarters would be located on the next floor but she still felt a bit anxious, not wanting to make any mistake and enter the wrong room; it would be disastrous to wake up a vampire, or even worse Aizen himself, while she was trying to rescue the young woman.

She extended her senses to double check the room before she took a deep breath and opened the door. After entering, she quickly closed it behind herself.

Orihime was sitting at the window, staring at her with wide eyes. A moment passed before a huge, relieved smile crossed her face and she got up swiftly, hugging the hunter.

"I thought they would catch you." She whispered and tightened her hold around the other woman.

"I'm not that amateurish." Nel whispered back, smiling widely. She patted Orihime's upper arm, signalling they had to hurry. "I've called the others and let them know our location. They should be here in hours."

"And what are you planning to do till then?"

"I'll take you out of the building and we'll get as far away from here as possible. The hunters will only serve as backups to hinder the vampires." She fell silent for a moment, her brows furrowing. "Grimmjow should be ahead of everyone else. I'll ask him to teleport away with you so the other vampires wouldn't be able to catch up."

"Grimmjow? What is he doing here?"

"Returning a favour, I believe." Nel answered and pulled the young woman with her. "Though I don't know what kind of favour that could be."

She opened the door and peered out before exiting the room, Orihime following closely behind.

"Ichigo saved his life once… maybe that's why?" the auburn haired woman suggested on a small voice.

"So that's what they were arguing about earlier." Nel murmured to herself, not taking her eyes away from the corridor ahead of them. 'It turns out he is somewhat prideful instead of merely arrogant.'

Nel halted when she felt Orihime stop walking behind her. She looked back to see her rooted to the spot, her eyes wide.

"What's the matter?"

"I… I think-"

Something shifted soundlessly in the shadows and Nel instinctively backed away, pulling the other woman with her. The pistol was already in her hand, aimed at the darkness at the other end of the corridor.

"Shoot and you wake up the entire mansion." Came the cold voice and a dark shadow stepped forward. Nel heard Orihime gasp silently behind her as neatly folded wings came to view, soon followed by the barely visible outlines of a fragile-looking body. Two yellow pupils were staring at them intently as the creature walked closer and closer.

"Don't worry, this is just a ghoul." The hunter whispered, hoping to calm the other down.

"I know." She whispered back. "He is one of the ghouls who took me here."

"That's right." The dark silhouette spoke up again. "And I'm not letting either of you walk out of here just like that. Lord Aizen needs that woman. Step aside, Neliel Tu Oderschvank."

The green haired woman's brows shot up.

"How do you know-?"

"It's not important. If you step aside and retreat I won't harm you."

She frowned and lifted her gun defiantly.

"That is not going to happen."

The dark figure leaped forward at that and the hunter shot instinctively.

"Run!" she shouted to Orihime and shot again before turning and running herself. The ghouls couldn't teleport like the pure-bloods so she hoped they could escape from the creature following behind them before it was too late.

She caught up with the younger girl at the base of the staircase. She motioned for her to run toward the corridor that led to the back door.

A swishing sound hit her ears and she looked up to see the ghoul jumping over the railing at the top of the staircase. She shot again but the bullet only hit a small hole on one of the black, bat-like wings. The ghoul landed next to her with a graceful move, one of his clawed hands extending to attack her. Annoyed, she kicked at his chest, sending him tumbling backwards and into the railing.

The backdoor of the mansion flew open and banged against the wall as Nel stumbled from the building. She looked around quickly, searching for any trace of where Orihime had run off. She noticed her standing a good distance away among the ruins of some kind of medieval chapel or church, her white gown almost glowing in the moonlight.

"Why are you waiting?" she shouted. "I told you to run away! Wh- !"

Orihime's head whipped back toward her, a horrified expression on her face.

"_You_ run away till you can! Quick!" she called.

That's when the hunter noticed the numerous shadows looming on the top of the ruined walls and pillars, surrounding the auburn haired girl.

'For the love of…' she trailed off inwardly, desperately trying to come up with a plan. There was no way she could finish off that many of them in a short period of time and save both the girl and herself.

Something rattled above her and she instinctively jumped aside, rolling once on the ground before leaping to her feet again. A ghoul – was this a different one or the same as before? She asked herself – dived toward her, ready to split her throat open. She willed herself to stay still and aim precisely before she shot the creature in the middle of his forehead in the last minute. He let out a loud shriek and a moment later his body went limp in the air. The corpse fell to the ground, trundling forward rapidly. Nel couldn't get out of its way fast enough and one of the huge wings clashed against her shins, knocking her from her legs.

She gave a low groan when she fell on her side, her brows furrowing in pain and a sudden wave of nausea. She was one of the strongest hunters of her group and she had this much trouble with a single ghoul? Losing that much blood had surely weakened her.

Before she could get to her feet again, several other ghouls and vampires neared and surrounded her. Judging from their expressions they weren't thinking of sparing her. She gritted her teeth when one of them leapt forward, the rest taking their cue from him.

She was truly surprised when they suddenly halted, their heads turning toward the same direction. She extended her senses as well and noticed a strong aura nearing them at great speed. Judging from the suffocating feeling it was one of a pure-blood's.

Though not the one's she was hoping for…

The pure-blood arrived with a strange gust of air, the long coat he was wearing fluttering strongly. Cold brown eyes swept the field, momentarily stopping when meeting Orihime's gaze before continuing to Nel.

"Aizen…!" she whispered, her eyes wide.

"I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, vampire hunter, but unfortunately I can't do that. You tried to steal something from me that I hold precious." He motioned toward the auburn haired woman who could only narrow her eyes at the tone he used. He, yet again, was talking about her as if she was an object. "But I think I can forgive you since now I not only have a pure being to drain but also a strong hunter. Your blood may not increase my power but you will sate my hunger just as much."

Nel's eyes narrowed as well and she opened her mouth to give a reply but a cold voice interrupted.

"Excuse me, Lord Aizen, but I think I must inform you that I can feel Grimmjow Jeagerjaques' scent on that woman."

The green haired hunter's gaze shot to the ghoul who was standing next to the pure-blood. He was the same one who had held them up in the corridor. She glared daggers at him but was completely ignored.

"Well, isn't that interesting?" Aizen asked with an amused glint in his eyes. "Did you have a run in with Grimmjow? I hope you didn't kill him, I would still like him to rejoin my clan."

She frowned at that, various scraps of information coming back to her at once.

"Why would you want him to rejoin?" she asked warily.

"It's rather simple, actually. He is a pure-blood. It's hard to find one nowadays, I believe there are only a few dozen of them left in all of Europe after the Purification. I have no trouble creating ghouls or lowly vampires, but I have to find and convince pure-bloods to join me. This is why it was a great loss when Grimmjow deserted and this is why I try to make him rejoin my clan."

"Too bad he is stubborn." She interjected, finding a little consolation in the fact that Aizen's quest was pretty hopeless.

"He surely is…" the clan leader said with a nod, his smile not wavering in the slightest. "Though I wonder how you know about that if you only had one run in with him…"

"That does not concern you." She replied warily.

Aizen chuckled coldly and stepped forward. Nel instinctively moved back on the ground but the pure-blood wasn't going toward her. Instead he calmly walked toward Orihime.

"Don't worry; I know everything about it already, even if you are not willing to tell me your version of the story." He stopped in front of the auburn haired girl, his fingers lightly brushing a few locks from her face. "I have spies everywhere after all."

"Who- ?" Nel started with wide eyes but she couldn't even finish the sentence as a strong hand clasped around her throat. The hard fingers gripped her tight enough to leave bruises.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that." Aizen whispered into her ear. She tried to peel his fingers off of her, choking for air. The man teleported faster than any other vampire she had seen before.

"Oh sorry, am I clutching you too tight? It's not my intention to throttle you…"

His hold loosened considerably, but he kept his fingers in place. Nel tried to look as unfazed as possible but she could tell from the look in Aizen's eyes that she didn't quite succeed.

"Do you know where Grimmjow is?" he asked conversationally.

"No, I don't." she said with slight malice in her tone. It was technically true. She didn't know _where exactly_ he was.

The pure-blood's smile widened a little and his thumb slid to her pulse-point, pressing it hard.

"I think you might remember it in a little while."

Neliel clenched her teeth soundlessly, readying herself for the coming pain.

"She doesn't need to remember it, fucker."

Her eyes widened and shot towards where the loud voice had come from.

A tall shadow was standing on one of the ruined pillars among the ghouls and lowly vampires, his arms crossed over his chest, a cocky grin plastered on his face.

"I didn't know you'd missed me so much." He said, tilting his head a little. Nel wasn't sure whether he was addressing his words to Aizen or her.

The brown haired vampire let go of her and straightened up, either not noticing or ignoring her feeling for her pistol on the ground. He turned toward the other pure-blood, his smile widening.

"Welcome back, Grimmjow."

* * *

TBC

A/N: Take your bets ladies and gentlemen, who is the spy?

Kufufu, a little AiHime in there. *snicker* I wish I could expand on it a little more but I'm afraid the fic would turn into an AiHime fic then and I definitely don't want that.


	10. Chapter 10

No one moved or spoke for minutes. Grimmjow and Aizen were staring coldly at each other, seemingly ignoring their surroundings. The vampires and ghouls surrounding Grimmjow and Orihime didn't move even an inch, waiting for instructions from their master.

"You do realise you are no match for me, right?" Aizen asked in a mildly amused tone.

Grimmjow's smirk widened a fraction.

"But you won't kill me if you know what's good for you."

"I'm afraid you think too highly of yourself. Your pure-blood status may make you valuable but if you turn against me I won't hesitate to kill you."

The teal haired man's smile faded slowly, his eyes hardening and flaring up with pure hatred. Aizen didn't seem fazed at all; if anything the show of emotion only made him more complacent.

"I offer an exchange." He began calmly. "You hand over Inoue Orihime and I release the hunter."

"Denied."

A click sounded from behind Aizen as Nel cocked her gun, gripping it with both hands to reduce the shaking caused by all the blood loss and exhaustion. She panted lightly, her eyes filled with determination as she aimed at the back of Aizen's head. The vampire slowly looked over his shoulder, his eyes reflecting condescension as he measured her battered body still lying on the ground.

"Do you wish to die that badly?" he asked, his previously amused tone turning all but ice cold. "This is your only chance to get out of here in one piece."

"I do not wish to get out of here in one piece without Orihime." Nel retorted dryly, causing a small, humourless smirk to creep over Aizen's lips. He turned back toward Grimmjow, who had teleported next to Orihime while he had been distracted, not paying attention to the gun still aimed at him.

"This is all? Is this really the best the hunters are capable of? Sending a weakened hunter and a reluctant vampire to a rescue mission? I may have overestimated your group. As things are now I believe I could crush your organization with ease."

Nel gritted her teeth, her fingers twitching with the effort to hold herself back. She knew Aizen was just taunting them; it was clear as day that he was baiting them but she couldn't help it. As soon as the next degrading word left the vampire lord's mouth she pulled the trigger.

She gasped loudly, as if waking from a nightmare, when thick, viscous blood splashed across her neck and face, its smell and taste strong in her nostrils and mouth.

She was frozen to the spot, not moving an inch. The silence surrounding her was dead, almost like she had gone deaf and the world around her perfectly still.

The first sound penetrating the dreadful tranquillity was a cold chuckle and a low thud. She looked up to see the unmistakable silhouette of Aizen looming over her, the strong light of the moon highlighting his outlines.

"It's going to take more to kill the Continent's strongest vampire." He whispered in a chilling tone. Nel's wide eyes shifted to the heap lying between her and Aizen, noticing the pale skin and dark wings.

"A ghoul's strongest and most useful trait is their blind loyalty." He continued in a hushed tone, as if talking to a child. "They become a living shield without even being asked." He crouched down in front of her, his long, slender fingers absently caressing the dead creature's hair, thus staining his hand with the blood gushing from the ghoul's cervical artery. His expression showed no emotion and his eyes remained cold. He glanced up at her then to the other ghouls and vampires surrounding them.

"She is yours."

Her head whipped to the side as they closed on around her. From the corner of her eyes, she could see that Aizen stepped back and turned away, his long coat swishing around him, before he was blocked from view by a lowly vampire. That reminded her of Orihime and how the pure blood was probably going to kill Grimmjow and then drain the girl right on the spot.

Without thinking, she forced herself off of the ground, willing her shaky legs to move. She reached inside her jacket and pulled out her second gun, shooting at whoever stood in her way. She wasn't sure whether it would be wise to aim at Aizen or if it would be just a waste of time. Either way, all she could see was him marching toward Orihime and Grimmjow, and while the teal haired vampire seemed to take up a protective stance in front of the girl, the look in his eyes and his grin told her he was more interested in finally facing Aizen rather than actually protecting the girl.

"Killing him is not your job!" she shouted, hoping to catch his attention. His icy blue eyes shifted to her for a moment, his bloodthirsty grin fading. He looked back at Aizen, his scowl darkening in annoyance seeing that confident smirk on his face. He growled low in his throat and grabbed Orihime by the wrist, teleporting away from sight.

Nel breathed a sigh of relief. At least they would be safe now, she thought and focused back ahead at the approaching ghouls and vampires. She, on the other hand, was in serious trouble now. Her ammo was not infinite but there were definitely more enemies than she could handle at once. She clenched her teeth as she fired the last bullet of the magazine, moving quickly to change it. A lowly vampire used that chance to attack her, his fangs especially prominent to Nel as he got dangerously close to her.

A sickening crack was heard and the lifeless body fell right in front of her feet, the vampire's head and neck twisted in an unnatural angle.

"You thought I'd let you have all the fun?"

She sighed and lifted her gun again, her eyes scanning the clearing and the ruins.

"This is not 'fun'. I hate fighting." She admitted, risking a sideways glance at Grimmjow. "Where did you leave Orihime?" she asked to change the subject.

"Not so far away so we gotta hurry." Even if he'd said that Nel could tell his eyes were searching for Aizen so he could settle things with him.

"You'll have plenty of opportunity for that later. Let's go."

"Fine." He spat, put an arm around her waist and the next moment Nel found herself sucked in whirling darkness, the wind swishing around her, the quick, chaotic motion making her dizzy.

She instinctively gasped for air when the world stopped rushing by around her and her feet were set on firm ground again. She quickly freed herself from the vampire's grasp when she noticed Orihime crouching next to an old pillar.

"Are you alright?"

The auburn haired woman nodded her head.

"I just want this to end already. What about you?"

"We are both fine." Nel reassured her and took her by the hand, pulling her up.

"You two should get going. They're coming." Grimmjow cut in, looking down at a smaller group of figures hurrying toward their hiding place.

"You are not thinking of staying behind and fighting them, are you?" Nel asked warily, her brows furrowing.

"Somebody has to hold them up and you're in no shape to do that. It's only the adrenaline holding you up."

"We could just-"

"Look, I can't teleport with both of you at once. Whoever is left behind will be torn to pieces. Didn't you just say you don't like fighting? Well, guess what, I like fighting. Love it actually."

"I fail to see how that is relevant now."

"I'm saying let's share the trouble into two. I'll take care of the fighting part for you and you take care of everything else. Get the chick outta here and let your friends know what's going on."

Without waiting for her to say anything, he teleported away, leaving Nel to stare at the spot he had been standing at. She muttered something under her breath and grabbed Orihime by her wrist, drawing her after herself, away from where the enemy was approaching.

"Can you feel the vampires' aura, Orihime?" she asked to get her thoughts off of Grimmjow and how angry she was at him.

The younger woman nodded as they ran at the fastest pace they could, loudly gasping for breath.

"Only faintly but yes, I can. I developed an ability to feel them after I've met so many supernatural beings thanks to Ichigo. I think this pure being thing has something to do with it as well."

"Yes, that's definitely one of the reasons you are more sensitive to them than a normal human." Nel panted and let go of the other's hand so they could move more easily among the ruins of the old church. "Isn't it tiring, though? I know it gives me a headache if I have my senses extended for a longer period of time."

"I don't really need to extend anything to feel them." The auburn haired woman answered. "It's a constant thing for me and I can't simply turn it off."

"Then your abilities are either different or more matured than a regular hunter's." Nel replied, gulping down air. She felt more and more weary and she was afraid her legs would simply give away under her if she tried to take another step, let alone run any further.

They jumped over the remains of a wall and ran through a clearing before reaching the unpaved road that led to the mansion. They stopped for a moment, trying to catch their breath.

"We are in the open, Nel. Anyone could discover us." Orihime noted and leaned her hands on her knees, still panting.

"You are right. I think we should go find my motorbike and…" she fell silent for a moment and her eyes widened a fraction as she noticed something.

"Is something the… matter…?" Orihime jumped back slightly as a tall figure appeared between them out of thin air.

Nel opened her mouth to say something but she was silenced quickly.

"We don't have time for explanations. Stark and the others are coming too but it might take them some time to get here."

"Hali-"

"No time." The dark skinned woman said sternly. "I'll get you out of here as soon as possible. Nel, you seem to be in a worse shape than-"

"Tia, please." Nel leaned on her knees as well for a moment before steeling herself and straightening up. "The mission is to rescue Orihime. Don't confuse personal preference with duty. Could you take her away as far as possible from here?"

The pure-blood was silent for a moment before letting out a sigh and nodding.

"Fine, but stay alive till I come back for you." She muttered and pulled off her scarf from around her neck and chin. This was the first time for Orihime to see her without it and she was truly confused why she insisted on wearing it in the first place. Initially she had thought that the hunter's face was scarred or deformed somehow but now she realised she was one of the most beautiful and exotic women she had ever seen.

However, she understood it a moment later when Halibel opened her mouth, the moonlight glinting on her long and pointy fangs.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you." The blond woman spoke up quickly, holding up a hand. She reached around her neck again and fumbled with something before pulling out a dark gray pearl necklace from under her garments. "Put this on. It will mask your aura so the vampires and ghouls won't be able to find you again."

Orihime hesitated a little before nodding determinedly and taking the jewellery. As soon as it was fastened around her neck she felt arms embracing her around her shoulders.

"Don't you dare get yourself killed." Halibel said, addressing her words to Nel before she and Orihime disappeared from sight.

Nel's mouth twitched a little, a smile forcing its way on her lips.

Her eyes widened and her head whipped around as a loud cry sounded from behind the mansion. Yelling and maniacal laughter followed it and for a moment she felt like she was listening to beastly hyenas wrangling for the bones. Another scream and rattling hit her ears and she readied her gun without thinking, running back to where she had come from.

As soon as she reached the fringe of the ruins and set eyes on the battle she stood rooted to the spot. At least two ghouls and four lowly vampires were trying to land a hit on the lone pure-blood in the middle of the group. He was standing on the remains of a wall, a ghoul clinging to his shoulder, the long claws digging deep into his muscles. The strong light of the full moon created dramatic, long shadows on the walls and the ground. The silhouette of huge, dark wings intercepted the battle from her for a few moments before a loud smack was heard and the pale ghoul was sent flying through the air, meeting a nearby column and breaking it in two. A choking sound came from the body before it fell limply on the ground, part of the massive pillar falling on top of it, breaking the delicate wings under its crushing weight.

Neliel stared mesmerized at the fine dust floating in the air, illuminated by the strong light. Now that she looked closer she could spot two more limp bodies lying on the ground, one in the shadows at the base of the wall Grimmjow was standing on and the other a few feet away from a pile of rocks, its chest horribly torn up, dark blood pooling around it.

Another cry was heard but this time it was angry and annoyed instead of painful. The hunter looked up to catch sight of two vampires throwing themselves at the teal haired man, one holding him in a headlock from behind while the other was aiming to tear up his throat. The pure-blood lifted his leg and kicked the approaching creature in the chest, sending him tumbling backwards from the wall. He reached for the one behind him to try and throw him over his shoulder but paused and lifted his head to look up when he felt a strong gust of wind on his face.

Another, bigger ghoul was floating above him, his large wings blocking the light from his eyes, momentarily blinding him. His tail whizzed through the air with great force, ready to split his throat open.

A loud bang echoed over the clearing and the ghoul was flung back in mid-air by the force of the gunshot. An ear-splitting shriek sounded from the creature and its body fell to the ground with a thud.

A second report of gun sounded and Grimmjow's eyes widened as the vampire holding him down threw his head back and he plunged backwards, almost pulling the pure-blood with him as well. The teal haired man quickly freed himself from the dead body's flabby hold and watched as it fell down from the wall, the thick blood slowly running down from the small gunshot in the middle of his forehead.

"Don't just stand there, we have to go!" Nel shouted, aiming at the remaining three lowly vampires who were standing a little hesitantly among the ruins. One of them gritted his teeth, shouted wordlessly and started toward them. The green haired hunter pulled the trigger instantly and another dead body fell to the ground with a low rattle.

Grimmjow seemed to consider staying and finishing off the rest but when yelling hit their ears and new, stronger auras showed up near them he decided it was wiser to get the hell out of there. He had managed to repay his debt to Ichigo and even got back to Aizen a little with killing some of his people. He might have loved fighting but he recognised a suicide when he saw one and going against numerous fracción and pure-bloods, possibly Aizen himself was definitely something he considered suicide, especially in the condition he was in.

He turned and quickly teleported next to the hunter who was still standing with her gun aimed at the lowly vampires.

"Can you get us out of here?" she asked and started to back away.

"Hell yeah, just let me catch my breath a little. I'm only gonna take us to a safer spot" he replied, and before she could have responded they were standing on the unpaved road again, a relatively safe distance away from those lowly vampires. Grimmjow was panting more heavily than she had remembered and he was grimacing in pain, examining his damaged left shoulder where the ghoul's claws ripped up his skin and muscles. He clenched and unclenched his hand a couple of times then tried to lift his arm up but stopped midway and let it fall back to his side.

"This one is more serious than I thought." He grunted. "Might not work properly for a couple of days."

"Could we leave tending to our injuries when we are safe at home?" Nel asked, wanting to get as far away from that place as possible.

"Didn't think you would be one to get scared so easily."

"Please, don't try to tease me in a situation like this, Grimmjow. I'm serious."

"Yeah yeah, whatever." The vampire murmured and stepped closer again so they could disappear. The moment his healthy arm would have closed around the hunter she grabbed him by his shoulders and pulled him down to the ground. She shouted something he didn't understand as excruciating, burning pain shot through his whole body. He didn't even feel when he fell on his side, his head knocking against the hard ground. His muscles were thrown into spasms and he had to grit his teeth not to cry out in pain.

Neliel was on her feet a moment later and the gun sounded again, the umpteenth lifeless body hitting the ground that night. She stared wide eyed at her victim, not quite believing what she had just seen. A vampire, most probably a fracción had emerged from the mansion as they were speaking. Grimmjow hadn't noticed him because his back had been to the entrance and she had been too late as well. The fracción had extended his arm but she could only catch sight of the backfire as he pulled the trigger of a gun. She had never seen vampire using fire-arm before, save from Halibel who only did it to fit in among the hunters.

A groan pulled her out of her thoughts and she glanced down at Grimmjow who was attempting to sit up. She could feel other vampires nearing them so she crouched down next to the man and lifted his face to direct his attention to her. His eyes were hazy with pain but he seemed to acknowledge her presence.

"Did you get hit?" was the first question out of her mouth. She originally wanted to ask him to pull himself together and take them out of there but she couldn't bring herself to do that when she saw that he was suffering.

The vampire gulped down air and nodded before letting out a nasty course of swearwords.

"On my shoulder… the damaged one…" he forced out and slowly stood up with the help of the hunter.

"Maybe we should…" Nel started but the vampire cut in.

"Forget it, we're getting outta here now. Your friends won't arrive in time." He wobbled a little but managed to put his unhurt arm around the hunter's shoulders. "This injury's gonna slow me down, though. My insides feel like they're on fire. It hurts like a bitch."

The vortex of shadows enveloped them again and Nel had to concentrate not to give into the dizziness. The adrenaline was dying down in her system and the earlier blood loss took its toll on her. Grimmjow wasn't in the best shape either, his injury needed to be taken care of as soon as possible.

They appeared among the woods, the shouting and the noise coming from the mansion only a distant sound in the background. Nel could hear the vampire grinding his teeth and the low 'shit, shit, shit' he was chanting under his breath. After about a mile he was barely standing on his legs and he was leaning against her. She had no problem supporting his weight but she started to worry that his injury might be more serious than they originally deemed it to be.

He managed to teleport two more times before he had to stop. He let go of Nel and slumped against a nearby tree, gasping for air.

"Well, sorry babe, but this is the end of the tour. Catch a taxi or something." He said before sliding down the tree trunk and passing out.

* * *

TBC

A/N: Yes, you waited two months for _this_. I'm sorry.


	11. Chapter 11

He opened his eyes weakly and glanced up, expecting to be met with the grinning faces of Aizen's servants. He laid eyes on a moonlit ceiling instead and his brows furrowed as his brain registered that he was lying on a soft mattress.

His gaze shifted sideways when he heard rustling, spotting a dark figure sitting not too far away from his bed in front of the window.

"Where am I?" was the first question out of his mouth.

"In my house." The silhouette replied in Nel's voice. She stood up and took hold of her chair, pulling it closer to the bed.

"You decided to give me shelter? How kind of you." He snickered weakly and attempted to sit up but he cursed and fell back onto the bed, grimacing in pain.

"Careful. The bullet was removed only a few hours ago." Nel advised in a soft tone, her voice lacking the cool neutrality he was used to by now. "It wouldn't have been safe to lodge you in the organisation's building while you were unconscious. I wouldn't put it past many of the hunters to attack an insensible vampire."

Grimmjow snorted at that; and they claimed to be the good guys, he thought to himself sarcastically.

"The reinforcements arrived shortly after we departed." She continued, suspecting he would want to know what happened while he was unconscious. "I had to order some of the other hunters to help me get you out of there too. They were rather reluctant at first as you can imagine. Good thing Tia returned after some time so we could make it back relatively fast. It also helped that Aizen decided to retreat."

"Heh, the bastard doesn't want to lose many people after it took him decades to collect them." He grunted, shifting on the bed to a more comfortable position. He chose not to comment on how she didn't leave him behind.

"Even if that's true I think you should lie low for a while." She suggested.

Grimmjow grimaced, his head falling back onto the pillow.

"Guess you're right." He muttered reluctantly.

"You can stay here till your injuries heal." She spoke up, surprising the vampire with her declaration. "The entire first floor is yours while you are here. I've closed all the louver boards and pulled the curtains in all rooms so you should be able to walk around whenever you feel like it. However, the ground floor is mine and I haven't made it sun-proof so you should avoid going down there during the day."

"Is this some kind of house-arrest?" he asked warily.

Nel leant back in her chair and crossed her arms, a contemplating look on her face.

"In a way, yes." She quickly lifted her hand before Grimmjow could growl his disagreement, asking for a minute to explain. "But I'm not going to forbid you to leave the house nor to hunt. And even though I _will_ be keeping an eye on you while you are here, it's only to ensure you don't go overboard with the hunting. Stark and Halibel agree that we will not bother you while you are in this county. The other hunters are forbidden to go after you, too. As long as you provide us information about Aizen and his minions, you will be tolerated."

"Just like that? Grimmjow asked, his lips lifting in a smirk. "You hunters are surely desperate if you willingly let a vampire settle in your territory in exchange for information."

Nel frowned lightly and leant forward, her elbows resting on the edge of the bed, staring intently at the pure-blood.

"You are a small fry in this game, Grimmjow. You might be a pure-blood but you are still nothing more than a lone roaming vampire. You have neither a clan nor servants; you don't have authority over anyone but yourself. Your power consists of your own abilities and that's it. We will happily tolerate someone like you if that means we can take down Aizen and his large clan who kill hundreds of people every year."

Grimmjow's healthy arm shot out faster than lightening and Nel found herself yanked forward, sprawled on Grimmjow's chest till her face was only inches away from the vampire's.

"Don't rub something like that in my face when you hunters are responsible for me losing my clan and my authority." He hissed between his teeth, his piercing gaze boring into hers.

Nel stared at him with wide eyes, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly, a pang of guilt shooting through her. She was at a loss of words and in all honesty, she didn't think she had the right to defend the hunters in a situation like this.

"You are right. I'm sorry." She uttered in a low tone. "But don't judge me because I'm a hunter. Just because I'm part of a group it doesn't mean I agree with everything it says or does. The Purification was a barbaric period in human history and even if I lived at that time, I wouldn't have taken part in it."

Grimmjow growled in reply before letting her go.

"Say, what made you become a hunter?" he asked, wanting to change the subject.

Nel straightened in her seat, her hands folded on her knee. She hesitated to answer his question but after her earlier slip, she thought it was only fair if she did.

"My family was killed by two vampires, save for my mother who had died long before that unfortunate night."

"Lowly vampires?"

Nel nodded and took a deep breath.

"The two of them attacked us without warning. My father was killed brutally before he could do much of anything." She fell silent for a few seconds, her hand lifting to rub at her forehead. "I got my scar when one of the vampires tried to kill me but one of my brothers protected me. I survived the strike; he did not. I would have died as well if it weren't for my brother. He saved me from the vampires and made me hide so they couldn't find me. I learnt about his death the next day when the neighbours discovered the dead bodies."

She sighed and lowered her head for a moment before looking up again.

"Remember our earlier… argument about Halibel's origin? The artefact you mentioned was in my possession since the night my family was killed. I could only hide from the vampires because the necklace obscured my aura. My father was an antiquarian, so he encountered many strange objects during his lifetime. I don't know if he or my brothers knew it had such a power, though."

She fell silent again, her hand smoothing down her trousers to brush invisible dirt from them.

"I haven't talked about this in years. It's funny how I made an exception for a vampire."

"I don't see you laughing." Grimmjow noted.

The vampire put his good arm behind his head, looking at the other. Judging from the look in her eyes, she was reminiscing about that night.

"So it was for revenge after all?" he asked, wanting to bring her back to reality.

"I don't like using that word but anyone who lifts a finger to my loved ones has to pay for it. Even after all those years, I still wanted to find the two vampires and kill them. I started off hating all vampires but after some time, I realised it was pointless so I concentrated on finding those two."

"Did you succeed?"

"When I managed to track them down, it was only to find out that they had been killed by other hunters years ago."

Nel sighed and leant back in the chair, staring at the ceiling.

"Maybe it was better this way. I don't know what would have happened if I had to face them again. Maybe all that training and instructions from Stark and later on Halibel would have been useless and I wouldn't have been able to kill them after all. I wasn't that strong at the time, so they could have caused problems for me, especially the Grantz one. I heard he regained his consciousness some months earlier."

Grimmjow sat up in the bed suddenly, drawing Nel's attention to him. He quickly regretted his decision as pain shot through his body but he didn't lie back down.

"What was that name again? Grantz?"

Nel blinked at him but nodded slowly.

"Yes, Szayel Apporo Grantz. Did you know him?"

"…Can't say I did." Grimmjow muttered, his stance more relaxed now. "But his brother was my fracción back in the days when I still had my clan, so I heard some nasty things about him. For a moment, I thought Il Forte was the one who attacked you, but that would be impossible since he died during the Purification."

"Small world?" she asked with a forced smile.

"Now I wanna know the other one's name too."

"Nnoitra Jiruga."

Grimmjow cursed aloud, his head falling backward.

"Is something the matter?" Nel asked, obviously confused.

Her confusion only increased when the teal haired man lifted his hands to his chest and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"What are you doing?"

Grimmjow pulled the shirt from the left side of his torso, turning his shoulder toward Nel.

"That one left me a little souvenir, too." He grunted.

The first thing that held Nel's attention was the huge scar running down the middle of Grimmjow's chest. When she could tear her eyes away from it, she noticed a smaller but deeper scar running from the top of his pectoral muscle around his neck, down to his shoulder blade.

"How did that happen?" she asked and looked up at the vampire's face. He shrugged his shirt on and lay back on the bed.

"I was fighting someone else when he attacked me sneakily. I hate to admit it but I only made it out alive thanks to Kurosaki."

A confused look crossed Nel's face and she leant closer to him.

"Why would he want to kill you? And what kind of relationship do you have with Ichigo anyway? All these hints keep confusing me."

"Lone roaming vampires are considered good targets among others who have a clan to back them up. I bet he thought killing a pure-blood would bring him some kinda fame. That, and the easiest way to get rid of any rivals is to kill them. As for Kurosaki, he must think we're friends or something, even though I tried to beat it into him that we certainly aren't. I'd call us sparring partners at best."

Nel nodded silently, her expression turning thoughtful.

"I see." She muttered, coming to a conclusion with her musings. "Then you can't be the devil incarnate if Ichigo considers you a friend."

"I told you we aren't-! Ow, shit." The vampire hissed lightly, quickly biting the insides of his mouth to stiffen any other cry of pain and lay back on the bed.

"This is your punishment for capering about." Nel teased with an amused smirk.

"You know, I could use some of your blood to speed up the healing." Grimmjow said with a sly smirk of his own, examining the bandages around his shoulder.

"Dream on. You've already drunk more than would be desirable. I lost so much in the past few days that I should be in bed too, actually."

"And why are you so sure I won't surprise you one night and suck out your remaining blood?" Grimmjow asked with his usual grin and drawn up eyebrows.

"Don't worry, I can protect myself." She retorted, holding up one of her guns.

Grimmjow let out a groan and his head fell back to the pillow.

"It was a nice change that you didn't aim that thing at me for days. It was starting to get annoying."

"Then don't cause trouble and I won't aim it at you." She answered with a cheeky smile in a matter-of-fact tone.

Before Grimmjow could shoot back something witty, she stood up, signalling the end of the conversation on her part.

"I feel kind of tired and I haven't slept since we returned so I'll retire now. Tia is on the ground floor if you need anything."

With that said, she swiftly placed the chair back in front of the window. Grimmjow's mouth opened but he quickly closed it again as she made her way to the door.

Seeing he had nothing left to say, Nel turned around and exited the room, closing the door behind herself. She looked around the corridor, willing herself to get used to the idea that the vampire would be living here for a while now. When she thought it had finally sunken in, she walked down the stairs, a musing look on her face.

She found Halibel sitting at the table in the kitchen, a cup of coffee in her hand, staring out the window at the autumn landscape. She seemed calm but lost in thought, almost uncharacteristically wistful.

"Why are you drinking that thing? No one else is here so you don't need to pretend." Nel spoke up, greeting her friend with a smile.

Halibel glanced at her with her vibrant green eyes and put her cup down with a loud sigh.

"I got used to it by now. It still tastes like sand but I can refrain from spitting it out."

Nel's smile faded in worry and she sat down next to her friend, her brows furrowed in concern.

"What's the matter?" she asked and touched the other's hand lightly.

Tia was silent for minutes before looking her straight in the eye.

"I can't go back to the hunters anymore. With the necklace I could hide from everybody: the hunters, the vampires and Aizen too. But now that I gave it away, I need to face all of them."

Her voice was firm and neutral, but Nel knew how serious that particular issue was for her. The green haired hunter took a deep breath to collect her thoughts before answering.

"Stark and some of the others are currently escorting Orihime to a hideout; maybe, after she is safe, she could give it back to you."

The vampire shook her head.

"No, I wouldn't accept it. She is in jeopardy and her death would make Aizen stronger. I only used the necklace to provide myself a relatively peaceful life. While wearing it, I didn't need to constantly be on the run and I could avoid confrontation with the hunters and Aizen's agents."

Her fingers smoothed down the warm cup in front of her, her eyes taking on a far away look again.

"Do you think he would want to get you to join him, too?" Nel asked, worry rising in her. That would mean Aizen was after two of their people, as much as she could call Grimmjow part of the group, not to mention Orihime.

"Yes, sooner or later. He lost some of his lower-ranking people tonight so he may choose to create new ghouls and lowly vampires but after that his spies would surely find me."

"What are you planning to do?"

"Fleeing sounds tempting." Halibel said nonchalantly, causing Nel's eyes to widen slightly in shock. The vampire turned her gaze back to the window, watching the bare trees swaying in the wind, a bitter smile creeping onto her usually stoic features. "But don't worry, I won't abandon you guys. I'll look for some place to hide till the chaos settles. Now that my aura is readable to everyone, I'm afraid the hunters have already figured out that I'm a pure-blood. Stark may be a powerful leader but even he won't be able to defend two pure-bloods for long."

Nel buried her fingers in her lush hair, sighing tiredly.

"I understand. I'll help you with anything you need."

"Thank you but one vampire is enough to baby-sit." She chuckled for the first time that night, showing off her perfect white teeth.

"You mean Grimmjow? I highly doubt he will let me baby-sit him."

"You are a strong woman, you can handle him. Though…" the vampire trailed off, her tone becoming more serious. "…be careful with him, just in case."

Nel shook her head.

"He is not a threat to me anymore, I'm sure of it."

"Do you trust him?"

Nel was silent, her brows furrowing as she pondered her answer before she nodded.

"I think I do."

Halibel sent her a questioning look but decided not to press the matter.

"Alright then, I'll leave tomorrow evening." She said and stood up from the table, leaving the cup of coffee untouched. "Would you take care of my belongings for me? I don't want to go back to the headquarters anytime soon."

"Of course. I'll collect everything and bring them here so you only need to drop by to pick them up."

"Thank you for everything."

"Don't mention it."

Nel watched as the pure-blood walked to the guestroom, leaving the door open slightly so she would wake up at the slightest noise. The hunter exhaled sharply and turned to the window, taking in the tranquil sight. She wondered how long it would take Aizen to ruin the peace again.

She only snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed she was sipping the cold coffee that Halibel had left on the table. Her lips turned downward in distaste and she got up to drain the remaining liquid. It would be better if she went to bed quickly before she did something irrecoverable.

* * *

TBC

A/N: Yes, there are LOTS of parallels with the manga. It was my intention, though I couldn't always stay perfectly accurate (like how Ulqui is weaker than Grimmjow). Sorry for the slow chapter, but I felt the need to finally explain their pasts and tie up some earlier hints.

And thank you for all the reviews, favs and alerts.*3*


	12. Chapter 12

She jogged down the stairs, her huge hood bouncing on her head with each step. She grabbed at it to stop it from moving, peering from under the hood at the man standing on the track among the piles of snow. The light coming from the lamp placed above the door and the strong, silvery rays of the moon lightened the garden enough for his figure to be clearly visible. He was wearing thin trousers and a simple dark grey shirt, even leaving the top two buttons undone.

"My God, I'm having a shivering fit just by looking at you."

The teal haired man turned to her with raised eyebrows, blowing out a large cloud of cigarette smoke.

"I've told you before, the cold doesn't bother me."

"The only vampire trait I envy." Nel muttered, her teeth chattering. She hugged herself tightly, rubbing her upper arms to warm herself as she neared the pure-blood.

"Have you seen anything suspicious?" she asked, her gaze following Grimmjow's to examine the woods surrounding her house.

"What makes you think I'm looking for anything suspicious?" The vampire asked, knocking the ash off his cigarette.

"When you are not out hunting, you come out each night and take a stroll around my house. You've been doing this for the past three weeks."

The teal haired man's hand stopped a few inches away from his mouth, his expression showing surprise for a moment before a wide grin spread across his face.

"I didn't know you'd been paying that much attention to me." He said and had a draw at his cigarette.

"Don't get the wrong idea." Nel replied and buried her face in her hood and scarf. "It seemed like you were waiting for something to happen, so I kept an eye on you just in case."

Grimmjow chuckled to himself but didn't share the reason why he was amused.

"It's just too quiet." He began. "I knew Aizen would lie low for a while after what happened but I expected it to be only one or two weeks before we heard about him or his minions. But it's been one and a half months now and it makes me restless." His piercing gaze swept the woods and it was obvious all of his senses were on full throttle.

"Do you think he is planning something grand?"

"No idea. Maybe the damage we did was bigger than we thought and it really took his clan this long to recover. Though, that's too optimistic coming from me." he paused, his eyes fixed on the road that led to the mansion. "Alright, I'm personally done for tonight so unless you want to freeze to death, we should get back inside."

Nel sent him a thankful look and all but ran to the front door. Grimmjow just laughed tauntingly and threw away the cigarette, strolling after her.

"Have you heard anything remarkable in the headquarters?" he asked once they were inside, watching as Nel took off her coat and pulled off her snow-covered boots.

Even though Stark made sure Grimmjow was taboo to the hunters, he still avoided going anywhere near the organization's building, so he mostly learnt the news from her.

"Not really. The last registered vampire activity was at the mansion when we freed Orihime. There haven't been any cases since then, not even a single disappearance that would suggest they are still here and feeding off the humans. I think the Aizen-clan simply left the county. It's so quiet; Stark is sending his people home earlier or allocating extra day-offs and vacations. On one hand, I worry that this is exactly Aizen's goal, on the other hand, I enjoy being at home for three days in a row without having to worry about unresolved cases."

"That does sound kinda reckless."

"I know, but Stark thinks the younger and more inexperienced hunters can do the job, too."

"Heh, I bet he just gave in to Lilinette's whining."

"Maybe he did, but before that, he contacted other hunters in different counties. No one has heard anything about the Aizen-clan ever since that night. Where could a whole clan disappear to just like that?"

"Many places, especially if it's a rich clan. Knowing Aizen, he has estates everywhere, old castles as well as modern office blocks. If he wants to hide his whole clan, then I'm betting on him choosing an isolated estate in the middle of nowhere."

Once her boots were off, Nel straightened up, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Can't you ask some other vampires if they've heard of something?" she inquired innocently.

Grimmjow's expression darkened for a moment.

"I don't have a horde of friends, you know," he said and pushed himself off of the doorpost, turning on his heels and walking into the living room.

Nel stared after him in surprise for several seconds, not quite knowing what to make of his reaction. She walked after him, absently pulling off her long scarf from around her neck.

"Grimmjow, what-"

"I'm going to bed." He spoke up quickly and headed toward the staircase with long strides.

"So soon? You usually stay around till sunrise."

That made him halt mid-step and turn back to her, his cocky grin back in place again.

"Is that a subtle invitation?"

Nel gaped for a moment before her brows furrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. He had taken up the habit of teasing her with anything and everything he could think of, especially when he wanted to change the subject. Before she could think up a retort that wouldn't have made her sound childish, he was at the top of the staircase, snickering to himself and disappearing behind the door of the corridor. He was lucky her patience was particularly infinite; otherwise he would have ended up sore in a few places.

She was staring at the wall opposite to her, waiting for sleep to finally reach and lull her troubled mind. She felt agitated, her wandering thoughts not giving her any rest. She rubbed her forehead, just noticing that her brows had been tightly drawn together for such a long time it had particularly made her head hurt. She buried her face in her soft pillow, allowing herself to let out a displeased and rather un-ladylike grunt.

She wished she could just switch off all the distressing thoughts, get a good night's sleep, then switch them back on in the morning so she could set to do something about them. There was the trouble with the Aizen clan, then Halibel, who hadn't sent her word of her well being for over a month, and now Grimmjow too. She didn't understand what offended him about her question. She figured she shouldn't care that much... too bad she did. He wasn't an enemy anymore after all and she wasn't one to trample on other people's feelings – even if the person in question seemed to shrug it off.

Her eyes snapped open as a faint clinking sound hit her ears. Her hand slowly trailed under her pillow to grab at her pistol, her eyes sweeping her room, searching for the source of the sound.

It was still dark, the light of the full moon pouring in her window. She was about to extend her senses when she felt a cold hand cover her mouth and another grip her wrist so she couldn't lift the gun and shoot the intruder.

"Don't struggle, it's me," came Grimmjow's familiar voice on a hushed tone.

"What-!" she started when his grasp loosened, only to have her mouth covered again.

"Be quiet, someone else is here," he hissed between his teeth and waited a few moments before he removed his hand from Nel's mouth again.

"Someone else?" the hunter whispered, turning back to where the vampire was standing behind her next to the bed. He simply nodded, pointing somewhere above their heads.

She quickly got up from the bed, her senses straining to find the intruder's aura. "I can't feel anyone."

As if on cue, there was another clink, louder this time, coming from roughly the same area as Grimmjow had been pointing at. Their knowing gazes met, a triumphant smirk creeping onto the man's face.

"Is there any way I could get out onto the rooftop?" he asked as they made their way up the stairs.

"Do you think they are up there?"

"Where else?"

"The loft, for example."

The vampire made a dismissing noise.

"It sounded like they accidentally stirred a tile. They're on the rooftop, unless they've already gotten inside."

Nel nodded and cocked her gun, motioning with her finger for Grimmjow to follow her.

"There are four dormer-windows connected to the loft. It's relatively easy to climb out to the rooftop through one of those," she said when they reached the door of the attic. She opened it slowly, peering inside. After she made sure that no one was in there, she flung it open, intending to enter and check for any possible sign of the intruder. However, she knew she was forgone as she felt the air rush next to her, indicating that Grimmjow had dematerialised.

Clattering sounded from one of the corners and a painful screech as the clogged window was opened with a firm pull.

Grimmjow swiftly jumped onto the windowsill, and a moment later, he was out on the roof. He quickly made his way to a chimney, the snow quietly crunching under his feet. He hoped it would somewhat cover him from the eyes of the intruder, not to mention, protect him from one side if he were to be attacked. His gaze jumped from one spot to another, searching for the stranger, but no matter where he looked, all he could see were dark shadows and the branches of nearby trees. He couldn't find anyone with his senses extended either.

'Ghoul, huh?' he thought to himself. 'Or someone with a tricky little artefact like the one Tia used to wear.'

Knowing that his opponent was most probably way below his power level and posed no threat to him, his tense body relaxed unconsciously and he stepped out of the chimney's covering. That was when he noticed a small figure to his right, crunching on the nearby, extremely steep Mansard roof. The teal haired man took a quick step back, surprised by how close the other managed to get to him without him noticing.

Grimmjow expected the man – because it was a man as far as he could tell, judging from the angular body – to leap forward and attack him, but he remained motionless.

The pure-blood's eyes narrowed as the clouds drifted away from in front of the moon, thus allowing the silvery light to illuminate the stranger's features.

"Despite you being kinda lithe and shit, you sure make more noise than a horde of bolt rhinoceros." Nel heard Grimmjow say, and judging from his tone, he knew exactly who the intruder was.

A thoughtful expression crossed her face before she made up her mind. She climbed up to the windowsill and stepped out to the roof as well. She quickly regretted her decision as her bare feet sank into chilly snow up to her ankle. She visibly shivered, her usual sleeping attire not providing any warmth in the cold winter night. She wasn't going to turn back now though, so she pressed her lips together and moved forward, one hand always gripping at the outer wall of the dormer-window to help balance herself on the steep and slippery roof. Grimmjow and his twisted vampire agility made this look a lot easier.

"What if I said that it was intentional?" came a familiar voice and Nel stopped dead in her tracks, her eyes wide and her breath abated. She could see Grimmjow standing with his back to her a few metres away, his arms casually folded in front of him. His stance was relaxed, one leg bent and placed higher on the roof to help balance his body. It was obvious he didn't expect an attack.

'Why is he being so reckless?' flashed through her mind and she inched closer, her fingers gripping at the icy and snowy tiles of the dormer-window, the chill quickly sweeping through her and numbing her hand.

"I would say you're shitting me to save face." Grimmjow replied with a sneer. The other man merely lowered his head for a moment, almost like a bow, in response. Grimmjow could have sworn he did it to hide the change of his expression, but he dismissed the idea.

"I did want to talk to you, though." The smaller of the two said and jumped in front of the vampire, his feet connecting with the tiles with an audible creak.

As soon as she laid eyes on that face, Nel lifted her gun and shot repeatedly, her expression contorting into a rare snarl. Both men leapt back a good meter or two, shock evident on their faces.

"Fucking hell, Nel, what are you doing?" Grimmjow shouted but he was ignored.

The bullets rebounded from the tiles and the chimneys as Neliel kept shooting at the retreating figure. She only stopped when two strong hands clasped around her own, and pushed her arm down so the pistol was pointing toward the ground, preventing her from aiming at her enemy.

"What the fuck are you doing?" the vampire repeated, trying to initiate eye contact with the hunter, but her gaze kept roaming over the roof.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Grimmjow raised his voice, turning her towards him and shaking her shoulders. "Snap out of it alrea-"

"He was there!" Nel interrupted him. She took a deep, shaky breath before continuing on in a quieter voice. "That ghoul was there with Aizen. I saw him, even fought against him."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Grimmjow grunted, risking a quick glance at the direction the other man had disappeared to before looking back at Nel, hands still firm on her shoulders. "Ulquiorra is my ghoul; he couldn't be there, much less fight against us."

"Yet he was. He was the first one we ran into when I attempted to free Orihime. In fact, she said he was one of the ghouls who took her to Aizen."

Grimmjow opened his mouth, but closed it again. What the hell was going on?

"The bastard's been following me around for two years now. He couldn't just side with Aizen all of a sudden. He has no will of his own, he's bound to me till the end of his life."

Nel looked up at him from under her long lashes, a serious glint in her eyes.

"I'm not an expert on ghouls but something is definitely up with him." she said finally.

"She is right."

Their heads whipped upwards when the monotonous voice rang clearly in the otherwise silent night.

Ulquiorra was perched on the top of a nearby chimney, towering over their figures, his wings slowly growing out from his scapulas and spreading above them like a large, black cloud.

"You still here?" Grimmjow growled out and his hold tightened on Nel's shoulders to prevent her from trying to kill the ghoul. "You have some serious explaining to do."

"I don't run away like a coward," was the simple answer. "And I don't have time to go into detail. I have to get back to the hideout before someone notices my absence."

Both the vampire and the hunter opened their mouths to ask something but he cut them off.

"I came here to tell you that Aizen has left the continent. He is planning to bring reinforcement to Europe and wipe out the hunters once and for all and re-establish his reign among the vampires. You better get ready."

With that, he leapt up, the black wings flapping once, lifting him up high in the air. He was out of sight in a few seconds, fading into the dark sky.

"Now I really don't know what the fuck is going on," Grimmjow muttered to himself.

"Did he really try to pose as a double agent?" Nel asked mistrustfully, her eyes still glued to the sky.

"You think it's a trap?"

"It very well can be one." she nodded and folded her arms as the wind picked up, blowing her lush hair out around her face. She shivered violently, her legs and arms covered in goosebumps.

"Either way, we gotta let the others know about it. Come on, let's get back inside, you can't do anything about him anyway." To emphasize his point he tugged at her upper arm, moving toward the window.

TBC

* * *

A/N: Well, what do ya know, an update! Sorry for abandoning the story for such a long time. My only excuse is that I didn't feel like writing it and didn't want to screw things up by forcing myself to keep going.

As for the chapter, hehe, I decided to twist the spy thing a bit.

I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA when I'll update again, sorry.

Also, I just noticed that cuts out words from the majority of my A/Ns. I gotta fix those later.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Once they were on the ground floor again, Nel walked into her study and picked up her cell phone, intending to dial Stark's number. She only now realised how much her fingers had numbed; she couldn't even feel the phone in her hand.

She let out a surprised sound as the sleek black object was snatched from her, Grimmjow quickly pressing a few buttons on it, lifting it to his ear.

"I'll see to this, you go do something about yourself," he said gruffly and motioned with his free hand toward her.

Nel's eyebrows rose in confusion and she looked herself over, surprised to see her feet reddened, the thin shorts she was wearing not helping in covering the goosebumps all over her legs up to her thighs. She lifted her hands in front of her face, noting the familiar reddened skin and the uncomfortably prickly feeling.

"It's not that bad," she stated, looking up at the frowning man with big, innocent eyes. His scowl only seemed to harden and he snorted, impatiently tapping with his foot while waiting for Stark to pick up the phone.

"Yeah, and your lips being bluer than my hair is totally natural. Get a hot shower or something, because I'm _not _dealing with you if you get ill."

The hunter opened her mouth to protest, but realised it was probably pointless. Besides, a hot bath did sound tempting. She gave Grimmjow one more hesitant look before turning away and walking to the bathroom, the door closing behind her with an audible click.

She was buried in white puffy foam up to her neck by the time she heard Grimmjow and Stark's conversation come to an end. Judging from the random words and sentences she managed to catch, it went relatively well... at least, they didn't outright argue. Stark was probably more concerned with the news than to question why Grimmjow was the one letting him know about the development instead of her.

"So what do you think," she heard the pure-blood ask from the other side of the door. "Is he really a double agent or is it a trap?"

She was silent for a few seconds, pondering, absentmindedly playing with the foam.

"Well, if he really is loyal to you, then the things he said are true and he was trying to help us. But..." she paused, her tone becoming more serious. "I saw how he acted around Aizen and he seemed to be loyal to him too."

"What I don't understand is why Aizen would bring vampires here from other continents. That's particularly taboo."

Nel's brows furrowed and she lifted her head to look at the door, imagining that she could see the pure-blood leaning against it on the other side.

"What do you mean by that?"

It had never occurred to her in the last month to ask about vampire affairs. Having spent years as a hunter she had the notion she knew everything about the vampires that was worth knowing. However, now that she thought about it, she barely knew anything about them.

Ever since she decision to give shelter to Grimmjow, her opinion had slowly started to change about the pure-bloods. She used to think that every vampire, regardless of whether they were lowly, fracción or pure-blood, was a monster that needed to be eliminated, Tia being the sole exception. But now that she had the fortune – if she could call it that – of getting to know another pure-blood, she seemed to discover certain patterns in their behaviour, actual feelings that made them seem less like monsters and more like sentient beings.

Tia used to be rather laconic when it came to talking about her own race and as time went by, Nel concluded that the reason Tia joined the hunters was because she hated vampires and shared her opinion about them being monsters. The last month had flipped that theory upside down, so to speak. She would often catch a remark here and there, little pieces that would suggest the whole vampire business had some deeper, more complicated meaning to it than them being creatures of the dark, who were born evil and destined to be hunted down by humans.

Grimmjow's voice snapped her out of her musings, but she decided that as soon as the chaos settled she would ask him a lot of questions regarding vampires.

"There's a rule that a vampire shouldn't mingle with clans of other continents in any shape or form. Actually, that rule saved the remaining vampires from being absorbed into foreign clans, and Europe to be overrun by Asian and American clans after the Purification."

"And Aizen can break that rule without consequences?"

"There's no vampire authority that could punish him anymore."

"Anymore? You mean there used to be one?"

"Sorta, but that's not important right now. I dunno how seriously those clans will take Aizen, but if he gets help, you guys are gonna be in deep shit."

Nel's expression changed to that of worry. Just how many and how powerful vampires would they have to deal with? Would they lead an organised attack against the headquarters? Could allying with the other hunters solve the problem? Would other hunters even believe them?

Their reputation was bellow desirable, word having travelled that they were working with vampires, prompting several other hunter groups to cut every connection with them. The only other group that still stood firmly by them was the one led by Hirako Shinji. Though, his group was the one that guarded Orihime. If they were to split their forces, they might fail both tasks. She huffed loudly, her head flopping back against the edge of the tub.

"Couldn't you just order Ulquiorra to come back and explain everything in detail?" she asked warily, her tone resigned and hopeless.

"I have no psychical connection with him. Unless he comes back to talk to me face to face, I can't order him to do anything."

Nel lifted a hand to smooth a lock of green hair out of her face, her eyes closing slowly. She inhaled deeply, trying to clear her mind. She had gotten used to the relative peace in the past one and a half months and to have such a burden weigh down on her shoulders again stressed her more than she would have preferred.

"Grimmjow?"

She could faintly hear him shifting against the door, his clothes rustling lightly.

"Yeah?"

She was silent for a few moments, contemplating. Judging from his previous reactions she deemed it very likely for him to just walk away without a reply if she indeed asked the question that had been rolling around in her head for a little while now. She exhaled slowly, deciding to go with an apology for now.

"I'm sorry if I offended you with something earlier tonight."

A snort was her immediate reply, followed by a chuckle.

"So proper. But don't think I need cuddles, I do just fine without them."

Nel arched an eyebrow, her head lifting slowly, her eyes opening. She stared at the door for long seconds before she parted her full lips.

"Do you always push people away from you in such a manner?"

On the other side of the door Grimmjow's eyes widened a fraction, his lips pulling into a frown. Before he could shoot back something, Nel spoke up again.

"It seems like a defense mechanism to me, to be honest."

"What do you even know?" he barked, but his tone was more disregarding rather than angry.

Nel lay back in the tub, lifting her feet onto the edge to get into a more comfortable position.

"Well, I know that the subject makes you uncomfortable."

"Whatever, it doesn't concern you or anyone else."

"You are doing it again."

"Would you stop it?"

Nel couldn't help the smile that crept onto her lips. It was obvious Grimmjow was annoyed but his tone lacked that threatening edge that always alerted her when he was dead serious. She figured it meant she could get away with a little teasing, similar to how he could – or more like managed – to get away with the same kind of banter.

"Fine, but on a more serious note, you really should consider what I said."

With that, she put her hands on the edge of the tub, pushing herself up. She leant down and drained the water, reaching for a towel on the top of the rack.

Grimmjow was silently fuming on the other side of the door, his arms folded over his chest. He didn't want to consider it at all. So far, he lived his life sticking to his own principles and he managed just fine. Why should he change now? Just because she said so? Yeah, not gonna happen.

His face contorted into a bitter expression.

Who was he kidding? He did push people away every time he got the chance. He hated it, but that was the way he was, so he guessed there was no helping it. He hated it even more that she saw through him so easily. As an outsider, she seemed to grasp the motives of his behaviour even more so than he could. Damn but it was annoying to be read like he was an open book.

"You done yet?" he asked impatiently, pushing himself off of the door.

"Why do you ask?" came her slightly muffled voice through the wall.

"Nothin', just want to barge in while you're still naked."

"Very funny Grimmjow, though I must say, it is quite a weak comeback."

"Pff, guess you're right... Besides, I've seen everything you've got so it's not interesting anymore."

His lips lifted in a smirk when she didn't respond immediately, most probably too surprised to think up anything witty.

"Your bluffs are rather unoriginal." came her even voice and the sound of rustling.

"Are you sure it's just a bluff?" Grimmjow shot back, grinning now that he was gaining control of the situation again. "When I first came here to attack you, I said your bath time takes too long. Which does, by the way."

It was silent for a few seconds before the door opened with a click, Nel stepping out, wearing a thick robe over her warmer, long-sleeved white pyjamas.

"I would have noticed you opening the door. Remember, I'm a hunter." She said calmly and walked past him toward her bedroom. She stopped in the door and turned back to him, a fake pitying expression on her face. "So... dream on."

The door closed shut, leaving Grimmjow to blink at it with wide eyes.

"Che', as if I would care for some skimpy human." he muttered under his breath and turned around, unbuttoning his shirt as he walked into the bathroom.

* * *

His eyes trailed over the small town hidden in the valley, the windows dark and the streets empty as its denizens slept the sleep of the innocent. The scene was so peaceful he almost felt bad planning to raise hell in its proximity.

"Kaname."

"Yes, my lord?"

"Tell everyone to prepare themselves. I want to see these streets drenched in blood."

* * *

TBC

A/N: Grrr, I hate ff butchering up the formatting.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

She let out a soft, sleepy grunt and her eyes opened into slits, closing tiredly again after she noted that it was still dark. It seemed like she couldn't get a decent sleep tonight, even if she tried her hardest to get her mind off of her troubles.

"This must be a longest winter night ever," she muttered to herself and blindly felt for her phone, pulling the covers off of her body. She dragged herself into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee and something to eat. If she could do nothing but waste her time with tossing and turning in bed, she might as well get some work done.

While waiting for her toast to be done, she sat at the table and reached for her mobile phone, dialling Stark's number. Her fingers were lightly drumming on the wood surface, but as seconds stretched to minutes without anyone picking up the phone on the other end of the line, anxiety started blooming in her chest.

She stood up and dialled another number, hoping someone would answer the phone in the main office of the headquarters. Breakfast forgotten, she quickly made her way into her room, changing her clothes, but didn't get a reply, even by the time she was done. She stared at the screen for a minute, watching the small phone icon buzz from time to time without avail. She pressed a button, discontinuing the call and headed towards the stairs, running up to the first floor.

Grimmjow's head snapped up as there was a knock on the door and he got up from the bed, tossing the heavy volume he had been flipping through on the mattress. He knew it would be Nel standing in the doorway, but he was still surprised to see her up and dressed so soon after she had gone to bed.

"What's the matter?" he asked and looked over his shoulder to get a glimpse of the clock on the nightstand. "It's only 2a.m."

Nel was caught slightly off-guard to see him step out half-naked and bare foot, her attention momentarily held by two new scars; one in the middle of his torso and another on his left shoulder, both of them caused by silver bullets. A pang of guilt shot through her, knowing that she was responsible for one of them, but she repressed that feeling so she could concentrate on more pressing matters.

"I can't reach Stark or anyone in the headquarters." she stated seriously, worry obvious in her tone. "I'm afraid something happened to them."

Grimmjow's scowl hardened and he snorted lightly.

"I talked to him an hour ago and he sounded just fine. Not to mention, Aizen isn't supposed to be back for a while."

Nel sighed and pushed past him into the room, grabbing the phone he'd gotten from Halibel from the nightstand. She pressed a few buttons and held the device up toward Grimmjow. Slight confusion was evident in his blue eyes, first at what Nel was trying to prove, then at why Stark didn't pick up the phone.

"Aren't you overreacting it? He could be just out of earshot."

"Still doesn't explain why no one is answering the phone in the headquarters. Someone should be in the main office 24/7. The fact that somebody is not there is more than enough reason to call an emergency." She turned to the bed, picking up his shirt. She was about to toss it at him when something caught her eyes.

"What is that book? It looks familiar."

Grimmjow stepped forward and took the cloth out of her hands, putting it on as he spoke.

"I found it in your study. It's about pure-blood clans that lived before the Purification. I was bored out of my mind, that's why I decided to skim through it," he shrugged as he was done buttoning his shirt, sitting down to put on his shoes as well. "I killed a few brain cells reading all that bullshit. Next time, I'm just gonna ask you to fence with me. I saw you still have those swords hanging on the walls."

Nel's head whipped back towards him, remembering the only time they had "fenced". A shiver ran down her spine at the memory. She hoped Grimmjow didn't plan on repeating that incident. Though, by recalling that night, she realised how much their relationship had changed; she couldn't even imagine him trying to pull anything like that again. Was she getting soft on him?

"After this is over, I'm sure I'll be willing to do pretty much anything to thank you for your help."

The vampire grinned at her, his sharp fangs peeking out over his thin lips.

"You should know promising to do anything always ends up bad. What if I asked you to-"

Suddenly Grimmjow fell silent, his head perking up and his grin disappearing altogether, his body tensing noticeably.

"Someone's here."

"Ulquiorra again?"

"No, I can feel this one's aura. It's a vampire."

"I'll go deal with it then. Just give me a minute to get my guns."

Grimmjow merely shook his head, standing up from the bed.

"Their aura's familiar. I think it's one of Aizen's fracción. Greedy idiot thinks he can take on both of us at once."

With a small shift of air, he was out of the room, leaving a surprised Nel behind. She quickly made her way to her room to get her guns, cursing Grimmjow inwardly for being so impatient and reckless. Even if it was just a fracción he could still get himself in trouble...

The fact that she started caring for his well-being didn't even surprise Nel anymore. She took note of it as something that had happened while she wasn't paying attention, but she decided not to dwell long upon it. It wasn't exactly a bad thing, per se, it just added to the things she worried about on a daily basis.

By the time she exited her house, he had already gotten hold of the other vampire, the lifeless body lying at his feet, halfway buried in the kicked-up, bloody snow.

"Can you feel this?"

She slowly walked up to him, her eyes sweeping her garden while her senses were feeling about the surrounding fields.

"Vampires..."

"At least six of them."

"Not counting those that are probably lurking outside of the circle we can feel." She waited with bated breath, her moist palms clutching her guns. "How do they know where I live? My house is far enough from the town so their senses couldn't reach this place."

Grimmjow slowly shifted in his stance till he was back to back with her, his body tense as a drawn bow.

"Ulquiorra must've found you by scent. I remember him telling me he could smell you all over that park where we fought. Bet he followed you here." Grimmjow gritted his teeth in a snarl, murderous intent filling his gaze. "Piece of shit ghoul must've reported it in the clan. Son of a bitch lied straight to my face."

"So it was a trap after all." Nel concluded as calmly as she could have in a dire situation such as theirs. "I wonder what was true from his little story."

"I don't give a shit. I just want to find him and rip him to shreds."

"We will have to deal with the vampires first."

A grin stretched across his face.

"With pleasure."

* * *

Loud panting and the sound of footsteps filled her ears, giving her the feeling of being hunted, chased by faceless, unidentifiable figures. The world rushed by around her, making her head spin and her senses dull.

It took Tia a moment to realise that it was her making all that noise, her mind emerging from under the fog of confusion. She gulped down air and forced herself to close her mouth, breathing through her nose. She leapt over several metres of icing, landing in the snow silently.

Her heart beat wildly, almost tearing itself from her chest. Her palms were sweating heavily despite the freezing temperature as she clutched her pistol in one hand, and her phone in the other.

She still remembered Stark's tone, asking for her help before the line had cut, and she had been met with dreadful silence, prompting her to fear the worst. She had left her hiding place in less than five minutes, rushing to town as fast as her teleportation skills allowed her. She had tried to contact Stark again, but all her efforts had been fruitless. She was afraid she was already too late just because she had made the cowardly choice to run away and hide from everyone, including her own friends.

She gritted her teeth and teleported again, despite it taking a big toll on her body now that she'd done it countless of times already, having come from a great distance. She didn't care if she exhausted herself, though. All that mattered was getting to the headquarters as soon as possible and helping the others. She pushed her senses to full throttle, up to their greatest limits to be able to feel the auras in the biggest possible circle around her.

She gasped and stopped dead in her tracks, her vibrant green eyes wide with shock. Even though the streets were empty and silent, she could feel several vampires all around her in the nearby streets. What frightened her the most was the dense and suffocating monstrous cloud that she felt enveloping the hunters' headquarters. It took her a minute to realise what it was.

Dozens of vampires. Vampires _inside_ _and around_ the building, without a single sign of even one human there. She wasn't sure if that meant the hunters had fled or if all of them had been killed. Her stomach curled into a tiny ball at the thought and she had to take deep, calming breaths before she teleported again, looking for any familiar auras in the area.

She decided to avoid going near that specific building and headed towards Stark's house instead. It was the only other place she could imagine him fleeing to after such an attack. She desperately hoped she got it right and that she wasn't actually leaving his corpse behind for the vampires and ghouls to feed upon.

It took her about ten minutes and careful manoeuvring to avoid bumping into any vampires to get to the house without anyone noticing her. It wasn't like she couldn't kill them if it came down to it, but that could have alarmed the rest of them and she would have found herself surrounded by a multiply of vampires.

Her fingers slid to the doorknob, turning it, but the front door was locked. She checked for Stark's aura, only to find it reduced to a barely noticeable twinkle a few houses down the street. She ran down the stairs and out of the garden, leaning down as the branches of the bushes lining the fences got in her way.

Her eyes instantly zoomed in on the dark shapeless heap lying motionlessly at the base of the fence, the long, naked branches of some of the nearby hedging leaning above his body, almost as if trying to shield him from sight. Small batches of snow dotted the ground around him, having fallen from the stirred bushes. One of his hands reached in front of him, his skin visibly pale, almost bluish in colour.

"Stark!"

Icy blue eyes opened slowly, a barely audible sigh leaving the man's dry, pale lips.

"Tia?"

He was pulled up from the cold ground by surprisingly strong hands, his back gently laid back against the fence behind him.

"Keep still for a moment, I'll take care of your wounds first, then take you back to your house."

Stark closed his eyes again, his breathing shallow. When he spoke, his words were almost a whisper.

"Leave it, Tia. They bit me, I have barely enough blood left to function. Even keeping my eyes open takes considerable effort. Your blood manipulation technique can't help here."

Her intense green eyes zoomed in on his neck, noticing two pairs of bloody pinholes, one on either side of his throat. His face was bloodshot, his bottom lip split open.

"Then you'll just have to sleep till you regain your strength. I'll-"

The other hunter's weak voice interrupted her.

"Listen here. You have to find Lilinette. I lost her in the chaos at the headquarters," he heaved a shallow sigh, the air whizzing in and out of his lungs. "Aizen's henchmen attacked us out of the blue. The guards were dead before they could even scream for help. Then all of a sudden, the doors and windows were smashed in and dozens of ghouls and vampires swarmed in. Tia, I may be a veteran hunter but I've never seen this many of them together before. I don't know where Aizen found them but we don't have any chance against an army like this."

He attempted to sit up, wincing at the pain. Halibel tried to get him to remain motionless and not talk as much, but he waved her away.

"We tried to alarm Hirako's group and some others, too, but we couldn't reach them. I'm afraid they were attacked too."

"An aligned charge?"

"Most probably." Stark's gaze blurred, as if he was on the verge of fainting. "Either way, I ordered everyone who got out of the headquarters alive to retreat. You'll have to do the same and this is an order. Find Lilinette and get the hell out of here. If every hunter group has been overrun like this, you guys won't find any help anywhere."

Halibel's hands balled to fists at her sides.

"Stark..."

"Just do as I said."

"...Alright."

* * *

TBC

A/N: Remember the cliff-hanger at the end of chapter 2? (Probably not, but it's OK, I wouldn't either.) I can't believe I waited 12 chapters to resolve such a small thing. I feel like Kubo. *facepalm*

Sorry for the short-ish chapter, but I simply needed to get this over with so I can update after such a long time.


	15. Chapter 15

"Wait a minute, you can't just walk in like that!" slight fingers circled his wrist in a vain attempt to hold him back. "You will surely get yourself killed."

She stared intently at the back of his head, repressing the wince that threatened to cross her face as she felt cold wetness sticking to her fingers and palm as viscous blood stained them; the blood of those vampires that had been killed by Grimmjow only about ten minutes ago in front of her house.

Piercing, icy eyes turned to look at her, his gaze almost glowing under the faint light of the streetlamps. His voice was rough, leaving no room for argument.

"He's in there, I can feel the bastard. I don't care who else is there, as long as I get to fight him. I'll just slaughter all of them if I have to but Aizen won't get away this time. I've had enough of his little games and I'm gonna end it, one way or another."

Nel pressed her lips tightly together. Telling him he had no chance against someone of Aizen's calibre – but honestly, who had? – would just wound his pride, sending his temper flying through the roof. Or worse, just prompt him to try and prove that he was actually able to kill the man with his bare hands. Neliel could appreciate resolve but not when it was coupled with senselessness.

"At least wait till we find Stark and the others, they could help against Aizen. We could corner him that way."

Grimmjow grunted, rolling his eyes. "Takes too damn long. Let's split up instead. You search for your friends and I take care of him in the meanwhile. It worked before, it's gonna have to work again."

"Hold on, I don't want to-"

The hunter gasped and fell silent as she felt him slipping away from between her fingers, the slight gust of air of the teleportation flicking her green locks. The only thing he left behind was the blood on her fingers.

'Fool.'

...

He suppressed a string of curses as he materialised in the desolate garden of the hunters' headquarters. As if he would wait for the relief troops, personified by Stark and Tia's two men army. Didn't Nel realise that the three of them weren't exactly best pals of all time? For all he knew, Tia still wanted to skin him alive for ever lifting a finger on Nel while Stark would happily hand him over to Aizen for even mentioning lifting a finger on his precious little girl. The last thing he needed was them breathing down his neck while he was busy tracking down Aizen.

Despite his usual tendency to jump headlong into any situation, he found himself taking slow, careful steps ahead, his stance tense, ready to defend himself if need be. The dead silence was almost suffocating, enshrouding itself around him, pressing down on his mind till he thought he had gone deaf.

He could feel several dark auras around, way too similar to his own, some of them weaker, some which were stronger. Any other time he would have jumped on the chance to challenge each of them, maybe even all of them at once, but right now he chose to ignore them. His lips curled in a self-mocking smirk as an equivocal thought passed his mind.

'I'm saving myself for Aizen.'

He froze as an open window creaked on its hinges, moved by the cold winter wind. Grimmjow scowled, having had enough of the hide and seek.

"I know you're here, Aizen! Show your face!"

His yell rang clearly in the silent night air, bouncing back from the nearby walls.

Dead silence was the only reply he received, only broken by the low crackling of glass shards under his feet. The frozen ground was covered with glittering slivers, bigger and smaller alike. Empty, broken window frames were lying near the walls, having fallen from the upper pieces of chandeliers were scattered on the snow, along with broken light bulbs. It seemed like the vampires had been quick to destroy anything that could be used to give them some kind of disadvantage.

He gritted his teeth in annoyance, trying to feel for the clan leader's aura in the building. He noticed several strong auras in the dense mass but neither that could classify as the pure-blood's. He growled under his breath, heading toward the main building. If he needed to tear into the house and take out a few other vampires just to beat some information out of them about Aizen's whereabouts, then so be it.

Snow crunched behind him. His hackles stood on end, his muscles growing taut as he spun around, one arm extended in front of him, hard fingers clenching around a delicate throat.

"G-Grimmjow, it's me."

He stared at Nel with wide eyes as she gasped for breath, her fingers trying to pry his hard hand away from her throat. Not letting on that he was just as startled as she was, he immediately dropped his hold from her neck. His eyes sparked with anger, his lips pulling back in a snarl. Unable and unwilling to hold himself back, he snapped at her.

"What the fuck are you doing here? I coulda killed you!"

Nel absently lifted a hand to her neck, her fingertips brushing against the skin there. She looked back at him, unfazed by his raised voice.

"I figured I might as well start searching for my friends here. I can barely set apart individual auras in this dense mass. I couldn't have left the place with a clear conscience without making sure I'm not leaving them behind."

The vampire growled under his breath, hesitating a few moments before he turned his back on her and started walking toward his original destination, his hand whisking through the air as a neglectful "whatever" left his lips.

She looked at his departing back with hooded eyes, her voice calm and collected as she spoke up, starting off to catch up with him.

"I know that giving you constructive criticism is like gardening on a minefield but you really should opt for being more cautious while trying to hunt down your enemy. Aizen is not some kind of invertebrate that you can defeat with the flick of your wrist."

A pointy glare was sent her way over broad shoulders, the vampire's expression as sour as it could get.

"You act like you're such an expert on takin' down nutty clan-leaders. What are you gettin' at?"

Her calm, hazel gaze studied his grim features as she asked.

"Mind if I help out?"

He raked his hand through his unruly hair, letting out an exasperated sigh. The woman will be the death of him.

"...Fine."

The naked branches of the trees knocked against each other, snow and ice falling from their limbs to litter the ground below.

Nel halted as they rounded a corner, mortification spreading across her face. She gulped and lowered her eyes, walking by the corpse of one of the guards lying in the snow. The sorrowful sound of the church bells faintly echoed in the background, as if they were mourning the fallen.

"You know this place better than me. Where could Aizen be hiding?"

Her eyes darted up to the teal haired vampire, a thoughtful look on her face.

"Let's try the second floor. The main offices are there."

Grimmjow nodded, barely registered excitement spreading through him, his heartbeat subtly easing into a faster rate.

The door opened with a low creak and with that, the smell of blood hit them in the chest, the sickeningly sweet wave of scent overpowering. Nel put her hand in front of her mouth and nose, trying to maintain her composure as the coppery smell enveloped her. Though, it was nothing compared to the sight of her late comrades lying sprawled on the ground, drenched in cold blood, their unseeing eyes staring ahead of themselves. The scene was stomach-turning in itself, but the familiar faces made it all the worse. It was enough to shake her calm demeanour and repugnance toward fighting. Whoever did this will have to pay for it.

She felt a firm push on her shoulder, directing her toward the staircase. She looked back to see Grimmjow's intent face.

"Just walk on." he absently licked his lips, swallowing noticeably. Concentration was clear on his face, as was his reluctance to look anywhere but the staircase. He faltered as they walked through the room, only to let on a few moments later, his voice coming out darker, raspier. "All this damn blood's distracting me."

She nodded in understanding, determined not to show weakness in front of him. At least she could tell that her closest friends didn't fall in this battle. That wasn't saying their dead bodies weren't lying in the next room, waiting for her to discover them.

She shook her head. She needed to concentrate on the present or else she could be the next one joining the slaughtered hunters on the floor. She quickened her strides, the steps thudding lightly under their feet as they ascended the stairs.

"Do you think they are waiting for us?" Nel asked in a low tone, hoping to distract her thoughts from the recent horrific memories burned into her brain. She repressed the urge to comment on her lack of ability to identify individual auras yet again. It frustrated her that she was deprived of her skill to locate vampires. She couldn't even feel Grimmjow's aura, even though she knew he was walking right next to her. Judging from the fact that he hadn't run off after Aizen a long time ago, she could risk a guess that his senses were in the same discomposed state.

She was fingering her gun hoister, her stomach jumping into a tight knot every time an unexpected sound hit her ears. She inwardly scolded herself, willing her mind to clear and her body to obey her orders, which, as of right then, consisted of nothing more than 'inhale, step forward, exhale'. Even those seemed too difficult at one point, which made her more and more agitated.

"Unless everyone's in a complete daze from their feasts." Grimmjow replied, breaking her train of thought. "But Aizen isn't stupid enough to let each of them feed from their prey and become useless."

A door came to view on the top of the staircase, holding Nel's attention too much for her to bother with forming a reply. Her mouth pressed into a thin line, her hand extending for the door handle. She hated these kinds of moments. Not knowing what awaited her on the other side, but being sure that she would not like it. Would she have to witness the result of another massacre? Or would they run right into their enemies' ambush? Would they even survive this suicide mission?

A low click sounded and the door opened, revealing a perfectly inviolate room. The hunter stepped inside in curious bewilderment, her jaw slacking as she looked around the moonlit vault. It was one of the bigger common rooms of the headquarters, leading to some offices. The walls on either side of the door were filled with bookshelves, various thick volumes lining the racks. The wall opposite to them consisted of nothing but huge windowpanes, granting the occupants of the room a grandiose panorama of the town. There were a few sofas and armchairs in the middle, neatly arranged around a coffee table. Nel's brows furrowed as she noticed the day's newspaper and a cup of cold coffee lying on the surface. It seemed like someone had left in a hurry.

Her eyes lifted to study the doors leading to the offices. All of them were closed, not betraying what lay behind them.

"I have a bad feeling," she murmured, her hand settling on her gun. She half-consciously drew closer to the vampire standing behind her.

"You think they knew we were coming?"

"Of course they did. We were hardly subtle about it after all." She glanced at Grimmjow from the corner of her eyes, not sure whether she wanted to scold him or tease him. Goading won in the end and her lips curled in a small smirk, annoying the pure-blood to no end.

"Che, it was your fault. I almost snapped your neck in half, you expect me to stay cool?"

Her eyes narrowed, her smirk still present. "That almost sounded like my death would affect you in some way."

"Don't twist my words around, goddamn."

"Then what?"

The vampire groaned, thrusting his fists into his pockets. "Nothin', just-"

His words froze in his throat as several loud bangs sounded, going off one after another. Their heads whipped around, suddenly finding themselves surrounded by grinning vampires swarming out from the offices.

"Well, wasn't that unexpectedly easy?"

Nel tensed up at the smooth voice whispering right behind her.

'Aizen.'

She attempted to turn around and face him, refusing to let their earlier meeting repeat itself. She was too late, though. A flash of teal and black filled her vision, zipping past her and straight into Aizen. Perhaps for the first time ever, she heard the clan-leader emit a sound of surprise. Dark crimson splattered, dotting her hair and clothes, its scent filling the air around them. For a dreadful second, she thought she would have to witness Grimmjow tumbling to the ground in the pool of his own blood. Instead, she saw Aizen lifting a hand to the side of his neck, smearing his oozing blood on his clothes. Grimmjow materialised behind him moments later, his face contorting into a snarl, thick, red fluid dripping from the tip of his fingers.

"Is that all you've got? It'll heal by the time I'm finished with you." The smooth taunting achieved its goal as it earned a low growl from the teal haired vampire. "Even if you're a pure-blood, you can't be exceptionally strong if all you can do is tear a shallow wound in my skin."

To Nel's surprise, Aizen turned toward her while still addressing his words to Grimmjow.

"I'm disappointed in your abilities. As it stands now, I really am inclined to think that I could create fracción that are stronger than you."

He stepped forward, extending his hand as if trying to touch her face.

"Perhaps she'd be a good specimen to test that theory on."

"You fucker!"

Grimmjow dematerialised but Nel didn't wish to wait and see what he would do. She grabbed Aizen's wrist, pulling it down while she twisted her body around, her torso bending down as her outstretched leg swung up, hitting Aizen square on the chin. She knew she couldn't possibly harm the pure-blood with such methods, but boy, did it feel good.

The clan-leader took two uncertain steps back – dare she say wobbled? – only to find himself in a bruising headlock, Grimmjow dragging him backwards.

Before Nel could let triumph wash over her for managing to turn the tables and get control over the situation, Aizen's henchmen stepped in. Up until that point, they had been following the events placidly, most probably directed to wait for further orders. Now they were closing in around them, a few of them surrounding Grimmjow to yank him back and away from Aizen. The teal haired vampire was seething with anger, his chest rising and falling rapidly, the air whistling between his clenched teeth.

It took Aizen less than a few moments to compose himself, appearing as unaffected as possible. Though, he seemed to be repressing fury, all smoothness and false suavity disappearing from his attitude. He took a glance at her and the vampire before dematerialising from sight. His voice rang clearly from the adjoining corridor.

"You may kill them. Make sure their features remain recognisable. I want to make an example out of them."

Neliel took a sweeping glance around the room filled with vampires and she could feel her pulse quickening. This wasn't going to work. She could tell that these vampires were all pure-bloods, Aizen's newly formed personal army. She and Grimmjow didn't stand a chance against so many of them.

She risked a glance over her shoulder at the teal haired man, noting his bared teeth and the way his glance was glued to the spot where Aizen had disappeared.

"Do you have a plan?" she asked in a low tone, hoping the pure-bloods wouldn't attack till Grimmjow answered.

"Sure I do." He hissed between his clenched teeth and Nel's eyes widened as she was pulled to him, one sure arm secured around her shoulders, the other one around her waist. She stifled a shocked cry as glass broke all around them, the noise loud in her ears, scathing pain burning across her cheeks.

She could do nothing but fist her hands in the vampire's shirt and hold onto him for dear life as they fell from the window for long seconds. A pained yell tore from her as they crashed into the glass-roof of the corridor, some shards cutting her cheeks again before the air was knocked out of her as they hurtled onto the ground, the pavement cracking under them, several pieces of concrete tile flying in the air.

She coughed loudly, her whole body enveloped in dull pain, though she could tell that aside from the few cuts across her cheeks caused by the flying shards, she was relatively unhurt.

"That was dangerous."

"Not for me." Grimmjow replied with a confident grin on his face, though he let out an uncomfortable groan as he attempted to lift his head from the ground. "You in one piece?"

"I think so. You proved to be a great safety mattress." Despite their situation, she flashed a bright smile at him.

"Very funny..." he replied gruffly, staring up at her with his usual scowl, not making any move to get up.

Nel's smile slowly melted away as she studied his features from up close. His hard, piercing gaze was fixed on her face, observing, waiting. Her eyelids fluttered, her gaze lowered slightly and in the next moment Grimmjow's eyes widened as soft, full lips met his own thin ones, fingers smoothing up his neck.

Long moments passed before Nel lifted her head again, tucking some long, green locks behind her ear, cracking a tentative smile at the vampire.

"What the hell was that?" Grimmjow asked with furrowed brows, his eyes showing confusion.

Nel's smile drooped and she directed her gaze to the side, studying the cracked concrete under them.

"A kiss?"

He smirked and clicked his tongue.

"Bullshit, this is a kiss."

He buried his hands in her lush hair, pulling her face to his. Nel gasped as she lost her balance and fell on his body, her lips parting as his tongue pushed its way into her mouth. She hummed in pleasure as she returned the kiss, her body melting against his.

Gunshots sounded above them and the green haired hunter broke away from Grimmjow, ducking down.

"This shitty clan always has to ruin my fun," the vampire growled as he stared up at the broken windows of the second floor, noticing some of their previous attackers aiming their pistols at them. "I'll shove those guns up your collective asses!"

Nel quickly got to her feet, the pure blood following her example.

"Right now, I can actually understand why you hate them." Nel muttered, throwing a glare toward the vampires.

"Never mind, let's go. We gave Aizen enough of an advantage as it is. I still wanna catch the bastard. I'll waste my time with these idiots after I'm through with him."

"No, we have to find Stark and the others first."

They halted behind a thick oak, hoping that it would be able to shield them from sight.

"I won't defer this time, Grimmjow. I am not going to chase after Aizen until I make sure my friends are alive."

The vampire clicked his tongue, looking around.

"Fine, then let's split up, for real this time. I must face that bastard and now I got the perfect chance. We landed a serious hit on his ego tonight and I'm not gonna wait any longer. ...You go and search for your friends."

The familiar gust of air hit Nel's face before she could form a reply, leaving her to stare at the spot he had been standing a moment ago. She frowned heavily.

'But we landed that hit **together**, you fool.'

* * *

TBC

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. ._. Had a little bit of authors block to fight against, but I think I'm good now (except that I feel like I'm losing my touch with the fic). The story is nearing its end (only 3 chapters left), and I have about 70% of everything written, so hopefully, I can get them done before my exam period starts (which should mean rapid updating of the last chapters, but haha, better not count on that).


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**.  
**

His feet almost floated over the ground as his body materialised on the dark, secluded pathway, the gust of wind kicking up the snowy leaf litter around him. The large, desolate park was just outside of the town, normally serving as a popular destination for picnickers and people walking their dogs during thaw. In the current chilly night, it was nothing but a shortcut to the grange his troops used as shelter from the winter sun.

His eyes studied the horizon, searching for any signs of the approaching dawn. Finding that he still had a couple of hours to complete his plan before they had to retreat made his chest swell with satisfaction. That would be enough to run over most of the bigger hunter groups scattered across the country and the few that would escape doom tonight would be taken care of in the following days. His careful strategy and organised troops would wipe out the hunters once and for all and with that, the first – and harder - half of his plan would be accomplished.

After that, they would only need to read through endless amounts of documents the hunters had piled up over the centuries, following their notes about the different clans and pure-bloods. He simply _knew_ that there were strong, solitary pure-bloods still hiding somewhere and he would have been a fool not to use this chance to rout them out and make them join his clan, whether they liked it or not.

All those years of planning and careful preparations hadn't been in vain after all. Even if he ended up relying on his allies' help in the last, crucial battle, the meed was his. No other vampire would have dared to rise above the archaic laws and taboos and extend their power the way he had done. His clan may have been smaller and weaker than Ichimaru's or Tousen's but he himself was stronger than any of them, his strength and abilities raising him above them, granting him authority. He had been the originator of their pact, flouting the taboos that forbade the very things he had achieved.

But he didn't care. He was above such useless laws. Once he reached his ultimate goal and seized the power to rule over the pure-bloods he would make new, better laws, laws that didn't shun him from superiority over others. Everyone, be it human, ghoul or vampire would bow to his authority and not even the rays of the sun would dare to oppose him.

His ears perked up, soft chills running down his skin. A lesser being wouldn't have noticed the slight difference in air particles that shifted behind him, whirling softly before gravity started to weigh down on them as material was forming in their place. By the time Aizen turned around, an oh-so-familiar figure was standing behind him with his usual grin plastered on his face.

"You think you're so strong you don't even need to keep your senses extended?"

The powerful vampire looked the figure over, an amused smirk creeping onto his lips at the tone of his voice. His stance relaxed as he straightened to his full height.

"How foolish."

Grimmjow snorted, savouring the moment of finally being able to corner the other.

"Foolish doesn't cut it. I'd call it fucking stupid."

The brown haired man took a step toward him, wet branches cracking under his feet.

"Actually, I was referring to _you_, Grimmjow. It was foolish of you to follow me. Alone, on top of that."

Grimmjow's breath caught in his throat, his eyes widening in shock; his hands shot to his neck, the bones and tendons under his skin protruding as he tried to pry Aizen's vice-like grip from around his throat.

'_Just when did he...?'_

"Funny..." the smooth, pleasant voice mused next to his ear. "...when you become as powerful as me, winning over your enemies turns so... dull."

A painful roar tore from Grimmjow's chest, his eyes screwed shut in agony. He could feel his blood thudding hotly against his forehead and temples, almost as if demanding a way out. His teeth ground together as his jaw locked tightly; sweat breaking out on his body. His knees buckled but Aizen's grip on his neck held him upright, his pressure on his pulse point not letting up in the least.

The clan leader's clasp around his throat tightened even more if that was possible, crushing and bruising the muscles under the younger vampire's skin. Watching the other's struggle, Aizen let out a disappointed sigh and threw him back against the stone fence of the park.

His back hit the ruined wall with a low thud, his knees giving way under him. He slid down to the ground weakly, the air whizzing in and out of his chest as he gasped for breath. His lungs hurt as they were forced to expand to take in the much-needed oxygen. He gritted his teeth, forcing his body to endure whatever torture was thrown his way.

"Shit. _Shit._"

"Really, Grimmjow, you are hardly impressive. Some of the others from the clan used to claim you were cunning. Right now, I don't see its basis, to be honest. Chasing after me with the false hope that you had a chance to lay a finger on me, is senseless at best. If you wanted to get rid of me that bad, you could have just run away."

"Run away?"

The light of the moon couldn't illuminate the younger vampire's face as it was lowered in what Aizen assumed was shame. His tousled hair cast shadows over his eyes, effectively hiding whatever message was hidden in his usually piercing gaze. The clan leader could only go by his low tone while he was trying to calculate what emotions were racing through the impulsive man.

"Don't make it sound like I or anyone else has a choice. I've tried to do that, but you sent your agents after me."

Aizen smirked, his apparent amusement reaching his eyes.

"Here I thought you were just playing hard to get."

Grimmjow chuckled mirthlessly, still way too much out of breath to raise his voice any louder than a hoarse whisper.

"Go fuck yourself."

Aizen's brows furrowed slightly, his fingers flexing by his side. His patience wasn't infinite. He didn't appreciate being talked to like that, especially if it was an inferior being talking back to him. He reached ahead, his fingertips sliding to Grimmjow's pulse point again.

He snapped his mouth shut, his eyes widening slightly. The younger vampire dematerialised right in front of his eyes, avoiding the touch of his torturing fingers. Aizen stood upright, his senses extending rapidly like a concentric tidal wave, covering a much larger circle than Grimmjow could cross in such a bad condition.

The younger vampire appeared behind him, keeping a safe distance while glaring daggers at him. His fists flexed by his sides as he gritted his teeth, trying to think up a way to defeat the other man. Aizen was freakishly strong, stronger than he'd thought. A part of him kept chanting in his head that he was fucked, but he stomped down on the annoying voice.

To his utter shock, Aizen was gone in the blink of an eye. Gritting his teeth, Grimmjow readied himself to dematerialise as well, not about to wait and see how the other wanted to attack him. The older vampire appeared before him, his smug face only a few inches from his own. Grimmjow ducked down instinctively, barely avoiding a hit that no doubt would have pulverized bone and muscle alike. A heartbeat later he was back to back with the other, his hard elbow descending rapidly towards Aizen's neck.

* * *

Relief washed over her as she beheld the tall figure slowly unfolding from the dark. For several moments, fear had gripped her heart, fear of being discovered, of being either captured or slain before she could do anything to save her loved ones. But it seemed like luck was on her side tonight.

"Tia!" she called out, drawing the other's attention. She didn't even care that she was surrounded by vampires that could discover her any second, she was just glad that she had managed to find her friend before it was too late. The blond woman's features were often unreadable but now they clearly showed surprise, sadness and anxiety. Nel didn't think she had ever seen her friend's face so animated before.

"Have you seen Lilinette?" Halibel asked immediately, her mind far from pleasantries.

Nel hesitated only a moment before answering.

"No, I haven't." A moment of silence. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Tia reassured her, though her voice was flat, the response automatic. Her eyes were already scanning their surroundings for any clues regarding Lilinette's whereabouts.

"I am sure she is fine, though," the green haired hunter continued. "Stark can protect her better than any of us could."

"Stark is dead."

The dark skinned vampire didn't look at her.

Nel's face blanked.

"You are joking."

Tia let out a sigh, shaking her head. Her blond locks danced around her face, slightly wet from the melted snow. She was still not looking at her.

"I'd never joke with something like that."

Golden and emerald eyes shone wetly, so very much alike in their pain, but no tears were shed.

"I will help." Nel declared firmly, nodding to herself.

"No, you won't. You will go and find Grimmjow."

"Tia-"

"As your senior," The vampire interrupted quickly. "I can order you to go too... but I don't want to. You can feel it too, can't you? He is fighting with Aizen. If you don't want to lose him, go."

Torn between her two options, Nel bit her lip, unwilling to rank her loved ones based on who was more important to her. She screwed her eyes shut, drew Tia into a quick hug before disappearing into the shadows.

* * *

He wiped blood from the corner of his mouth, grinning widely. His breathing was ragged, his body exhausted. He was sore and bruised all over, blood soaking his clothes, his palms slick with the dark red liquid. _He was enjoying every minute of it._ His fierce eyes were glued to his opponent, his grin turning razor sharp as he took in the sight.

Aizen's left hand was twisted in an unnatural angle, his wrist swollen and heavily bruised, most probably unusable for, Grimmjow guessed, about two to four days. His normally well-kept, brown hair was a mess, the long tresses at the back of his head tangled and falling over his sagging shoulders. He was breathing heavily, utter disdain reflected on his bloody, bruised face.

Grimmjow wasn't better off himself. He was pretty sure his upper right arm was broken, his right shoulder a gory mess with several other wounds littering his body. Even if he survived this night, he would need at least a week to recover somewhat. The difference between him and Aizen was that it was a serious failure on Aizen's part that he had gotten himself so beaten up, while the younger vampire felt all but rejuvenated. It had literally been years since he had the opportunity for such a fight. The hunters could only fight with their guns; if you took those away from them, they were back to square one, weak as any other ordinary human being. None of the hunters he had come across in his life would have been able to withstand his pulverising hits, nor would they have had the chance to match a pureblood's speed.

But this fight was worth his time, one of the most challenging – thus best – he had ever had. Even if it was going to be the last fight of his life, he was going to die satisfied.

Suddenly, Aizen let out a rare, frustrated growl, appearing right in front of him. The younger man didn't have time to jolt out of his musings and react; icy, hard snow burned across his lower arms as he was sent sliding backwards on his back, heavy pressure settling on his chest and around his throat. His electric blue eyes widened then narrowed, his lips pulling back in a snarl as he grabbed the hands holding him down, trying to force them back. Aizen yelled out painfully as the other's hard fingers locked around his injured wrist mercilessly, squeezing and twisting the swollen, sensitive flesh in sadistic desperation. But he didn't let go, just pressed the younger man down with as much force as he could muster, all finesse and mastery leaving him. They were fighting like savages, like mindless animals, tearing at each other without a care to the value of life.

Grimmjow could feel the tightening of fingers around his throat and he croaked as his airflow was almost completely cut off.

"It's a fucking wonder you do your own dirty job for once," he breathed with difficulty, forcing a smirk on his lips. He was failing to free himself from Aizen's vice-like grip; all that was left him was taunting.

"Are those your last words?" Aizen asked through clenched teeth, a hint of madness visible in his eyes.

Grimmjow sneered, spitting bloody saliva in Aizen's face. His fingers clawed at Aizen's wrists, his voice hoarse and faint as he croaked.

"The only thing I regret is your fucking hideous mug being the last thing I see before I die."

He choked, groaning with effort. Anger and hate was boiling inside of him, helplessness making him let out a frustrated yell and kick out with his leg. Aizen cried out, his grip momentarily loosening. Grimmjow forced himself up enough to be able to push the older man off of him, but a bony fist smacked against his face. Human bones would have cracked and shattered with sickening ease under such a brutal force, but for a pure-blood like him, it was only enough to knock him back as dizziness overtook him.

His world was dangerously swaying, his vision dancing on the edge of shadows and light, darkness creeping up on him. He shook his head to clear his mind and his blurry vision, screwing his eyes shut then opening them again. He could make out the contours of Aizen's raised fist, about to descend again.

Grimmjow clenched his teeth, preparing himself for another hit when Aizen suddenly went rigid over him. A thunderbolt-like sound wave washed over them, startling in its suddenness.

Grimmjow smelt it first rather than saw it; fresh blood gushed from Aizen's chest, slowly smearing everything around them. Aizen's previously furious features settled into shock and disbelief. His lips were moving but no sound left them. He finally managed to croak out something unintelligible before he slumped forward, falling unceremoniously to the ground.

The sound slowly died away, the faint echo still lingering around them, highlighted by the following dead silence. In the past few years, Nel had gotten so used to the smell of gunpowder that she barely noticed it. Now, it was different. It enfolded her senses, creeping into her nose, refusing to dissolve.

"Damn."

Grimmjow's voice broke the grim spell; Nel looked up, swiftly moving to his side.

"Are you alright?"

The teal haired vampire's eyes were still glued to Aizen laying on the ground next to him, motionless, his face buried in the snow in an undignified manner.

"I'll live," he muttered, clutching his injured arm to his chest as he stood up. He felt for Nel's hand, pulling the gun away from her. She watched his ministrations with a light, confused frown. From the way he handled it, it was obvious the vampire wasn't used to holding a human firearm, that he only relied on his theoretical knowledge rather than experience.

"What are you doing?"

His lips were pressed tightly together, a heavy frown edged on his face as he cocked the gun, aiming it at the dead body in front of his feet.

The sound of multiply gunshots filled the woods, sending the nearby birds and smaller animals that had been brave enough to return since Nel's last shot scampering.

"Making sure he stays down," he muttered, turning back to Nel and handing her the now empty gun. "You neglected to do that with me."

"Fortunately," she added, surprising Grimmjow. She put the weapon away, wanting to get it out of her sight as soon as possible. "Let's try to find some hunters who can keep watch over his body till dawn. I want this pointless war to end with his death here and now."

The vampire nodded as they turned to join the others in the town, too exhausted to even think about teleportation.

They only took a few steps before he stopped in his tracks, a frown on his face.

"Hey, Nel."

"Ye-?"

Her eyes widened as she was pulled forward by a strong hand on the back of her neck, a hard mouth pressing against her own. Sharp, pointy teeth nibbled on her full lower lip, making sure she granted access to his tongue. The vampire couldn't stifle the small, lop-sided smirk that forced itself on his face as the hunter's lips parted on a sigh, kissing back ardently.

Grimmjow pulled back reluctantly, still unable to wipe the smirk off of his face.

"Thanks for the help."

Nel looked at him, the corners of her lips kicking up in a smile.

"That is something I would never have thought to hear from your mouth."

* * *

He choked for breath, spitting out blood as he leaned against a column of the terrace, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His eyes roved the battleground tiredly; he concluded defeat inwardly, even though he would never have admitted that out loud. His fingers tightened around his gun, the muscles in his injured arm straining to lift the increasingly heavier weapon.

"Hirako!"

His head turned to the side, noticing Ichigo running up the stairs, his face bruised and bloody.

"What is it?"

"Look at that!"

The orange haired man pointed toward an annex. The natural light of the moon and the artificial glare of several strategically placed lanterns illuminated the fine dust floating through the air.

"What the blast is that?"

The sounds of battle ceased gradually, both hunters and vampires looking on in a daze at the shocking sight. The corners of Shinji's mouth turned down in disgust as he noticed the fine, gray grains sticking to his shoes, clothes and even to his skin.

Not half a heartbeat later, an angry, albeit slightly panicky voice called out over the heads of the fighters.

"Ichimaru-sama! The ghouls! Something is up with the ghouls!"

Ichigo's eyes widened and he lifted his weapon as the crowd parted in front of the silver haired clan leader. The normally sly-looking vampire's expression was dead serious; his strikingly bright, icy-blue eyes open as he studied his surroundings. The wind blew his hair in his face and his lids closed again to shield himself from the dust whirling in the air.

"So he failed after all... even with this much help from us. Shouldn't have bothered with comin' all da way here."

A young, scarred-faced boy materialised next to the mumbling vampire, bowing courtly.

"What should we do, Ichimaru-sama?"

The silver haired man leisurely put his hands in his pockets, his grin back in place. He lifted his voice enough so those around him would hear every word he spoke.

"The Aizen clan's ghouls are dyin' which means Aizen Sousuke's dead. Everyone under the Ichimaru clan's command is to retreat immediately. Gather in the forest outside of the town." He turned toward the main building, waving mockingly to the two hunter leaders watching them from the terrace, obviously tense and confused. "Don' pay mind to Aizen's people, even if they're slain right in front of you."

"Yes, sir!"

On the terrace, Ichigo and Hirako watched as the vampires surrounding their leader dematerialised, no doubt to pass on his orders.

"What did he say? It was something about Aizen." Ichigo mused, planting his feet more firmly on the ground in case they were attacked all of a sudden.

Shinji shrugged his shoulders, pulling a disinterested face.

"Do I look like I understand Asian habla?" He fell silent, his eyes narrowing in suspicion as he noticed Gin Ichimaru approaching them with that distressing grin of his stretched across his face. He murmured between clenched teeth. "But maybe he'll be nice enough ta translate it for us?"

"My, my, 'tis one hot potato if I've ever seen one. What does the dragon do when the big boss goes kaput?"

The two hunters quickly exchanged glances, understanding downing on them and a new wave of hope rushing through their souls.

"Aizen is dead?"

Ichimaru pulled his shoulders up, tilting his head slightly, a sigh leaving his lips.

"Yeah, you guys got lucky. And since he bit the dust, along with many of his men, not ta mention his ghouls, his clan's as good as insignificant now. It lost its chance to become a force to reckon with so I'm not interested in bein' his ally anymore." He paused, absently scratching his chin. "Well, I guess that's all. See ya."

Ichigo and Hirako stared after him with wide eyes as he turned on his heels to leave. The orange haired man couldn't help but yell after the departing vampire.

"W-wait a damn minute! You can't just- MNPH!"

Shinji's hand on his mouth prevented him from finishing his sentence.

"Are you bonkers?" The blonde hissed between clenched teeth, his eyes bulging comically. "Why don't you invite him over for dinner, too? If he wants to go that much, let him! You should offer to help his people pack their stuff as well!"

"Aaah~ I almost forgot!" Came the sing-song voice of the silver haired pure-blood, making Shinji flinch visibly. "This only applies to the Ichimaru clan. I could try convincin' Kaname-san too, but..." he pouted slightly, pulling his shoulders up and opening his arms in a doubtful manner. "He doesn' really like me. I can't promise he'd depart, too. Though, if you ain't afraid of an ambush you can come to the Elisabeth Church tomorrow night and help me persuade him. I'll regard it as peace talk."

He turned and took a few steps ahead, dematerialising from sight as he walked.

The two hunters kept staring after him with dumbfounded expressions. Shinji let go of Ichigo, absently ruffling his own blond hairdo.

"Guess I'll call Stark's gang."

"I support the idea..."

* * *

The ghoul stopped a few metres away from the motionless body, his face stoic as he studied his fallen master. His icy, golden gaze slipped lower, taking in Aizen's last, shocked expression.

"So I arrived too late." he uttered in a monotonous tone, his voice void of regret.

A sudden prickling sensation ran through his jaded body and his gaze shifted from Aizen's corpse to his own wings spread above his head.

"Hm."

He was moldering. His master having had fallen, there was nothing binding him to the world of the living any more. Up until that night, he had been living on borrowed time, defying and twisting the laws of nature, his mere existence a mockery of death. Now, the gray grains of ash drifted away one by one, proving that those laws could only be evaded for so long.

If he wanted to be honest with himself, it was sort of a relief. He didn't even remember how much time had passed since he had been murdered. Almost murdered, that is; hunted and attacked, then feasted upon. He had been so young when it'd happened. He had been so innocent and unknowing compared to his present day self... not to mention fallible.

_He didn't know how cruel the world could really be till he witnessed it firsthand. Inhuman brown eyes stared down at him, bloodshot from the manic pursuit that had taken place within the woods. He had only been searching for dry sticks so he could light a fire to keep himself warm for the dreadfully cold winter night. He didn't think he would run into something like this out there in the woods. Not even predators were common in the small valley, let alone such monstrosities. _

_A heavy, seemingly unmovable body pressed down on him, rendering his struggles ineffective. That was the first time in his young life when he experienced genuine, heart-clutching dread. An unnaturally strong hand grabbed hold of his hair, fisting it roughly and twisting his head backwards, burying it in the deep snow. A shadow loomed over him, warm breath fanning over his bared throat, sharp teeth tearing his skin open, slurping his blood till his green eyes clouded and his body fell limp, darkness enveloping his consciousness._

_He awoke with a start, his body and mind numb. He was still buried in the snow, but interestingly enough, he didn't feel cold. He wondered how he managed to survive the attack; he had been convinced he would die that night. He looked up at the waning moon perched high in the sky and he suddenly felt a deep, insistent pull inside of him, drawing him in, commanding him to follow its lead._

_He got up, sparing but a glance to his distinct, frighteningly white skin and clawed, animalistic limbs before he took flight in the dark night. His master was waiting for him._

Ulquiorra cleared his mind of the memories, looking down at himself as his body slowly fell away, each departing grain of ash speeding up the countdown to his end. He found it slightly ironic that his body had become its own hour-glass, forecasting the very last seconds of his life that he would have to spend being bound to this world.

He took a deep breath, releasing a sigh, relief washing over him as his soul freed itself from the confines of his fallen body.

He was free at last.

.

TBC

* * *

A/N: I liked writing Ulquiorra's final moments and the flashback. I didn't plan to include either of those, but the scene wrote itself. It's been some time since I enjoyed writing something this much (and that's not even sarcasm there, it honestly was interesting and, to me at least, touching).

Anyway, the boss battle is over! How was it? Anti-climactic? I hope not. *shifty eyes* Two more chapters to wrap everything up and the fic is done! DUNDUNDUNDUUUUN.

(You know you've read too much porn when 'torturing fingers' sounds dirty.)


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